Bad Religion – “True North” [YouTube Song Stream]

The Skinny: Los Angeles punk icons Bad Religion will release the title song off their upcoming new album True North today. The new single utilizes a wall of bristling guitars and charging punk rock beats to explore issues of alienation and loss informed by vocalist and co-songwriter Greg Graffin’s recent life experiences. The new album arrives January 22nd via Epitaph Records.

“The song is written from the perspective of a kid who is running away,” Graffin explains. He says, “I’m out of here, I’m off to find true north. It’s about recognizing that you don’t fit in and trying to find a truth and purpose. Those are all classic punk themes. We still remember exactly what it feels like to be a disaffected kid in this world. And I think we were able to convey that particularly well on this album.”

Produced by the band and Joe Barresi, True North celebrates the power of cogent punk in the face of personal pain and adversity. On the new album, the storied band deliberately revisits and refines the powerful and melodic Southern California sound they helped to define. “We went back to our original mission statement of short concise bursts of melody and message,” co-songwriter and guitarist Brett Gurewitz explains. “The intent was to record stripped down punk songs without sacrificing any conceptual density.”