Dear listeners of cool sound, get ready, because Drakulas are returning with their third New Wave album ‘Midnight City’, which was released today, May 1, on Dirtnap Records (and Wild Honey Records in Europe and the UK). The band from Austin, Texas continues to develop its own sound, in which the rawness of proto-punk, the drive of garage rock, and the cold pulse of early new wave are organically intertwined.

Originally conceived as a conceptual project by members Savage Lord Mic, Sam Francisco, and Pink Rick (associated with Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against), Drakulas have over time evolved into a group with a clearly defined aesthetic. What is especially interesting in this release is how the band works with influences. Here it is easy to catch echoes of Devo, Gary Numan, Grauzone, Kraftwerk, and the more strange manifestations of Neue Deutsche Welle, but this does not look like direct borrowing. Rather, Drakulas pass all of this through themselves and assemble it again into something slightly unstable, almost artifact-like, as if it is a signal from the past accidentally caught in the present. I absolutely recommend ‘Midnight City’, and add your favorite songs from the release to your playlist so you do not repeat!