Photo by: Jim Mitchell

L-R: Jason Hall, Chad Williams, Mitch Paglia, Ken Yamazaki

 

Bay Area punk veterans Western Addiction have returned with their first new music since 2020, unveiling the fiery new single “Let’s Keep the Circle Small.” The track arrives alongside the announcement of the band’s new album, Psychedelic Munitions.

Rooted deeply in the storied San Francisco punk community, Western Addiction have long been a unique presence in modern hardcore. Formed by employees of Fat Wreck Chords, the band emerged from inside one of punk’s most influential labels and quickly carved out their own identity in the scene.

“We're really proud of Psychedelic Munitions. Three years of grinding work went into making our fourth album. A lot of thought goes into every aspect of the songs. We all love music and hold strong opinions about what we put our names on and what's good enough to put out into the world. That's why it takes us so long to make records; we always strive to put together something we'd want to listen to ourselves and is worthy of people's time. Most of our songs are about timeless issues - respecting others, inequality of wealth, the dangers of capitalism, the underdogs of history, depression, food waste, the underserved, etc. We’re definitely in a "let them eat cake" moment and we hate it. All of these themes are played out through characters and context (depressed cowboys, paintings, photographs, etc.). There’s a bit more melody this time, shorter songs, more immediacy, and we even put a country song through the W/A riff chipper to see what came out the other side.”

Fat Wreck Chords will release Psychedelic Munitions on May 22, 2026