Chances are, most of the artists we cover on No Echo would proudly call themselves misfits. To illustrate this, look no further than Huntington Beach, California band Narcotics Division. "The band was originally formed and fueled by rejection, not just the typical societal rejection most underground bands get spurred on by but instead a complete and utter rejection from every scene, clique, crew, or club the members originally tried to be a part of," says vocalist Hank.
"Whether it was that we didn’t cut our hair the way we needed too to be in the punk scene, or we didn’t have enough tricks in our bag to roll with the skaters, didn’t hold the same core ideals as the hardcore scene, and weren’t attracted to minors like the pop-punk pop star wannabes, Narcotics Division fell through the cracks of society and washed out through the gutters, only to be filtered through the worst sewage the underground has to offer.
"Spurned by the entire ordeal we decided that if rejection was all we would receive then instead of folding, we’d embrace the concept. We would reject all sonic norms, all fads and trends, instead getting back to the core of what these scenes were molded by - perseverance in the face of rejection."
Formed in 2023, Narcotics Division's newly released Wasting Your Life demo carries that rebel spirit. "I would say our sound is an amalgamation of all the heavy subgenres and subcultures that surround us," guitarist Gabba tells No Echo.
"You throw a dart at a Sound and Fury lineup and we have a riff that sounds like that band. Gotta give it up to the classics too like Void, Infest, Zeke, Motörhead— the list goes on and on. We don't restrict ourselves to any one sound or genre."
Hank told us a bit Wasting Your Life: "The last demo we dropped was 3 songs we’ve had since the inception of the band. Originally it was 4 songs with the intro of the title track being a completely different song called 'Before I’m Hanged.' But the message of that one wasn’t really important and it worked as a good intro to the set but didn’t have legs on its own so one day we just combined it with what the main meat of Wasting Your Life and made our mandatory long song of the set."
Narcotics Division bassist Max says: "'Wasting Your Life' was always one of the more important songs. It was how we opened every set, with that siren signaling to everyone that, even if they think they are, they weren’t ready for what was about to happen. These songs were recorded with Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios — it was a pleasure working with him. He turned our strange little demo into a real nice piece of ass for your ears. Definitely going back for the next session."
Max fills us in on Narcotics Division's upcoming plans. "We have a couple big shows coming up (flyers above). We’re always putting up heaps of footage and cross promoting with bands in our area, also always working on new music. We hope to go back to Buzzbomb this fall and crank out at least another 3 if not more. We're also trying to promote our merch website more for people that we met on tour and anyone else that couldn't get merch at a show."
Hank also chimes in: "We’ve been working on some tracks that streamline the sound and the message. Before all our songs were longer and a little more drawn out with the overall lyrical theme being cautionary tales about various different topics, basically warning the listeners against making the same mistakes we have in the past.
"With the overhaul we’re aiming for more precise sounding songs with less filler, and lyrics that stray away from warning against what not to do in life, instead moving in the direction of passing along the very few boons of wisdom we possess between the 4 of us to hopefully help some people out of some tough spots and hopefully inspire a few kids along the way to pass on the same messages to the generations that come after. We’re not Gorilla Biscuits, but we still do thrive on hope."
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Hit the Narcotics Division Linktree to find all of their social media pages and upcoming shows.
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