Listen To Modern Adult Kicks By Hayley And The Crushers

Grown up enough to party with the babysitter, Hayley and the Crushers‘ Modern Adult Kicks (out today via Kitten Robot Records) is exactly what it advertises to be: a more polished, wiser “big sister” to the band’s sunny 2020 sophomore album, Vintage Millennial. The band’s new album is a shining example of how to grow up without growing jaded (pandemic or not, impromptu dance parties are always encouraged in the Crusherverse). Anointed as “the naked embodiment of power pop punk” by New Wave icon Josie Cotton—who signed the band to her Kitten Robot Records last year—the California-to-Detroit transplants are helmed by husband-and-wife team guitarist Hayley Crusher Cain and bass player Dr. Cain ESQ (with Action Ben Cabreana on drums). Together, they’ve created the retro-futuristic album that the world needs now: On Modern Adult Kicks, even the most bummer of subjects (addiction, heartbreak) contain a potent antidote of caffeine and heart.

One part pop, one part poison, all “poolside glitter punk,” Hayley and the Crushers’ Modern Adult Kicks was produced by legendary LA punk producer Paul Roessler (TSOL, Josie Cotton, Richie Ramone) and mastered by Mass Giorgini (Anti-Flag, Rise Against, Alkaline Trio, Suzi Moon) at Sonic Iguana Studios.

According to the band, Modern Adult Kicks represents a rare constant over the past few years. “The album was something real to hold onto during a time of turbulence,” Hayley says. “We went through the isolating nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, we signed to Kitten Robot Records in the middle of it, and we started working both remotely and in-person with Paul Roessler, who is the closest thing to LA punk royalty we could imagine. That was a silver lining, to be sure.”