Few bands are as unabashedly online as Chat Pile. And now, with "PEN I S MALL," the second single from their upcoming album, Who Loves The Sun, the Oklahoma City sludge/no wave band set their sights on a recent target of memes and internet scorn: coworkers. Specifically, the ones always trying to get in good with the boss in a futile grasp at power in their otherwise hollow existence. Having surveyed societal ills ranging from gun violence to environmental collapse at the hands of unfettered billionaires, it was only a matter of time before the band went all-in on the horrors of the workplace.
This was mine but the world is full of hallowed halls of degradation / Hard to think that your whole life can pass as a series of acts of / Subordination / Degradation / Degradation / Degradation
Sonically, "PEN I S MALL" picks up where the lead single, "Deep Blue," left off: the post-punky reverb of Cool World has been dialed down in favor of something harsher and more immediate. The whole track is fury and agitation from beginning to end as riff after jagged riff piles on while frontman Raygun Busch pushes his voice to new extremes. Shouting and shrieking for the duration, Busch takes on a raspy, full-throated delivery that, at first, lands somewhere between ex-Neurosis singer Scott Kelly and Fucked Up's Damian Abraham, only to push into something even more choked and desperate. The breakdown, preceded by a fit of coughing, is the sound of a man at the end of his rope.
The track also finds the band stretching lyrically as Busch employs multiple characters—the narrator; Greg, the bootlicking coworker; Ray, another coworker; and Simon, the boss—to illustrate the sad dynamic that finds all involved parties degraded and drained of life. While never explicitly named, the specter of capitalism continues to haunt the world of Chat Pile. "There must be more to life," the band is saying. Ultimately, it all just leads to more loneliness and alienation.
It's time to fill the truck with QPR / It's time to make the pig man's managеr happy / Greg knows this mall better than anyonе / Greg tells on Ray for reading a book
Starting in August, Chat Pile will make their way to Europe and the UK for several headlining shows with special guests Carpenter Brut and festival appearances, including SonicBlast and PALP. A special one-off show with HEALTH will take place in Vienna on August 11th. And in September, the band will hit the road with special guests Soul Glo, Virga, and Shallowater for the Who Loves The Sun Tour. Who Loves The Sun releases September 4th on The Flesner.
Check out tour dates and the Richard Pictures (aka Shane Moore and Drew Saracco)-directed music video below.
Chat Pile's collaboration with Hayden Pedigo, In the Earth Again, is out now via The Flenser. Read The Nu Metal Agenda's review here.
08/06 Âncora, PT @ SonicBlast Fest
08/08 Katowice, PL @ OFF Festival
08/09 Prague, CZ @ Fuchs2 *
08/10 Budapest, HU @ A38 *
08/11 Vienna, AT @ Arena #
08/12 Munich, DE @ Strom *
08/14 Val de Bagnes, CH @ PALP Festival
08/19 Dublin, IE @ Button Factory *
08/20 Dublin, IE @ Button Factory *
08/22 Bristol, UK @ ArcTanGent
08/23 Hasselt, BE @ Pukkelpop
* = with Ragana
# = with HEALTH and Carpenter Brut
Who Loves The Sun Tour 2026
09/12 Oklahoma City, OK @ Tower Theatre % $
09/17 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue ^
09/19 Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest %
09/20 Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre #
09/23 Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Music Hall #
09/25 Seattle, WA @ Showbox Sodo #
09/27 Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall #
09/29 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades #
9/30 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom #
10/03 San Diego, CA @ Music Box #
10/04 Los Angeles, CA @ The Belasco #
10/06 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater #
10/08 Austin, TX @ Radio/East #
10/09 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall #
10/10 Dallas, TX @ The Granada Theater #
11/05 Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre *
11/06 Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre *
11/08 Norwalk, CT @ District Music Hall
11/10 Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel *
11/11 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer *
11/12 Washington, DC @ Black Cat *
11/14 Charlotte, NC @ Underground *
11/15 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade *
11/16 Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl *
11/18 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
11/20 Indianapolis, IA @ Deluxe at Old National Centre *
11/21 St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall *
11/22 Lawrence, KS @ The Granada *
% No Soul Glo
$ with Portrayal of Guilt, Nightosphere, Traindodge, and Primal Brain
# w/ Virga
* w/ Shallowater
^ w/ Prize Horse
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