Bitter Branches

The Arc of Bitter Branches

The pivots — what forced Bitter Branches to reinvent.

1. 01

   The Cold-Open EPs

   Dropping 'This May Hurt a Bit' in the middle of 2020 wasn't about touring or hype, but getting sheer aggression onto tape. The band immediately followed it with 'Along Came A Bastard' in 2021, stripping away any lingering melodic instincts for pure, abrasive noise-rock dissonance. You hear the rust and urgency in the tracking, sounding like five guys who had to exorcise these tracks before the world shut down for good.

2. 02

   The Full-Length Reckoning

   Teaming up with Equal Vision for 2022's 'Your Neighbors Are Failures' pushed their ugly dynamic into an absolute wall of sound. The rhythm section of Dan Yemin and Kevin Sommerville locked down a suffocating mid-tempo groove that gave Singer room to breathe pure spite. It cemented them not as a side project, but as a punishing unit with zero interest in softening their edges.

Influences

• The Jesus Lizard — Duane Denison's metallic, discordant guitar voicings laid the structural blueprint for Bitter Branches' entire approach to tension. You hear that exact jagged, uncoiling dynamic in Matt Ryan's riffing across 'Your Neighbors Are Failures.' It's noise-rock built on hostility instead of atmosphere.
• Deadguy — Tim Singer's tenure fronting Deadguy in the mid-90s established his signature abrasive, rhythmic vocal delivery. That same raw-throat venom and sardonic lyricism drives Bitter Branches' entire discography. It's direct lineage, minus the metallic mathcore chaos.
• Unsane — Chris Spencer's blend of brutal Telecaster assault and street-level noise-rock grime is all over Bitter Branches' rhythm tracks. You can hear that heavy, blunt-force trauma across the 2021 EP 'Along Came A Bastard.' It shares the same no-bullshit, urban misery.
• Black Flag — The grueling, sludgy mid-tempo crawl of the 'My War' B-side showed heavy punk bands how to punish listeners without relying entirely on pure speed. Bitter Branches leans hard on that dragging, agonizing weight during their heavier breakdowns. It's confrontational, slow-burn hostility.
• Drive Like Jehu — The dual-guitar tension and relentless interlocking rhythms John Reis and Rick Froberg built directly informed modern heavy post-hardcore. Bitter Branches channels those spiraling, anxiety-inducing chord progressions before crashing back into straight-ahead punk stomps. It provides the frantic backbone beneath the noise.