News

Taking Meds recently announced their new full-length, Dial M For Meds, due out September 1st via Smartpunk Records, and today they're back with another new single, "Life Support."

Produced/recorded by Kurt Ballou at God City Studios (The Armed, Joyce Manor, NAILS) the album finds Taking Meds at their very best, leaning into college rock catchiness while maintaining the energy and bite of their post-hardcore roots. "Life Support" follows "Outside" and "Memory Lane" (which garnered attention from the likes of Stereogum, BrooklynVegan, Uproxx, and more), and perfectly captures Taking Meds' knack for blending satisfying alt rock hooks with vocalist Skylar Sarkis' sardonic lyricism.

Sarkis discussed the new track, saying:

“This is the dumbest song I’ve ever written. I’m glad we’re releasing it early because everyone is delirious from the heat this summer. It’s perfect for that. Roll your windows down and pretend it’s about being in love or something. It’s a happy-feeling song that’s really about being overwhelmed. I always welcome an opportunity to escape reality by getting absorbed in music. It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it feels like one of the more guilt-free and even rewarding ways to numb out. It seemed intuitive to put that idea into this kind of carefree, jangly song.”

Since forming in 2013, Taking Meds have often been a band that doesn't neatly fit into any one category. Now on Dial M For Meds, the group have channeled all the inventiveness of their past work into the most direct and hook-driven songs they've ever written. The album manages to be instantly memorable and accessible while still having the teeth and eccentricity that longtime fans have come to expect from Taking Meds. Its '90s-influenced sound makes for the perfect delivery system for Sarkis' lyrics which provide cynical, hilarious, and deeply human commentary on spending your adulthood chasing the often intangible high of creative pursuits. The result is one of the most incisive and satisfying rock albums of 2023.