#Risingartist: We were pulverized by Gamblers moved
Sophomore Album Pulverizer
Out March 29, 2024
We had the pleasure of chatting with Gamblers about their song and album. If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, you are missing out on new music from groups like Gamblers.
New York, NY – Indie band Gamblers have today released their latest single, “Pulverizer.” “Pulverizer” is the first track to be shared from the band’s forthcoming album Pulverizer, set to be released March 29, 2024. The band has also shared the music video for the infectious track and is available to check out now at Here.
Speaking on the new single, lead vocalist Michael McManus - whose previous production credits include Maybach Music Group, Heems, & Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown - shares, "Over the course of making and preparing to release this record, our band was starting to see some success but my entire personal life fell apart. Our last EP has now been streamed 10 million times, we had a single featuring Mick Jenkins become a fan favorite, we got signed to new management and distribution deals, but everything unraveled for me. It started with the death of my grandfather (who I was particularly close to) and the breakup of a seven year romantic relationship. Next, I was involved in a horrific car crash caused by a heavily impaired speeding driver that left me with a concussion, neck, shoulder, and back injuries, and severe PTSD - not to mention four other people involved in the crash were killed. Finally, and worst of all, my mother who I loved more than life itself was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and died. This song, and this record, are both called "Pulverizer" - because simply put, I've been pulverized by life."
Pulverizer serves as the group’s sophomore album, following their 2020 debut LP Small World and their 2022 remix EP When We Exit - which features dream-pop meets indie-rock track “Another Dose” featuring Mick Jenkins (the track has garnered over 8 million streams on Spotify).
Fans can pre-save Pulverizer now at https://symphony.to/gamblers-1/pulverizer.
Additionally, Gamblers will be celebrating Pulverizer with a special album release show. Join the band at Heaven Can Wait in New York on March 30th to hear songs from the new album live.
About Gamblers:
Life, as we all know, has a way of hitting when we least expect it—both for better and for worse. If you’re lucky, you walk away with your body, mind, dignity, joy and loved ones more or less intact. For Gamblers founder/bandleader Michael McManus, a few too many brushes with mortality have had him feeling like there’s a great force threatening to pound him literally into dust. His grandfather’s passing and a harrowing car crash that left four others at the scene dead are just two examples of what, for McManus, has been quite the, um... eventful period.
Along the way, Gamblers managed to score millions of Spotify streams with their Mick Jenkins-featuring single “Another Dose” (off their 2022 remix EP When We Exit). So there’s that. But the blows kept coming. As the band’s profile rose, McManus’s mother began a bout with cancer which eventually took her life, and his romantic partnership of seven years dissolved. This all followed every other member of Gamblers departing one by one, leaving McManus feeling like he was docked on an island at the helm of a ghost ship.
Amazingly, though, McManus wrote most of the New York electro-indie outfit’s new album Pulverizer well before any of these crucial life developments. When the activity around the band’s 2020 debut full-length Small World gave way to starting out on a fresh batch of songs, McManus wasn’t yet preoccupied with questions about whether the hand of fate plays cruel jokes on us. But McManus, nothing if not an astute observer, tends to follow his intuition into lyrical themes that end up ringing true later—almost as if his future self were sending him messages through the music...
“It’s eerie,” says McManus, “how much of this stuff turned out to come to life.”
Here’s the thing, though: Pulverizer is not a dark or foreboding experience. On the contrary, Gamblers have arrived at a rousing fusion of organic and electronic sounds. You could say they’ve come up with the ultimate afterparty album that hasn’t entirely left the celebration behind, no matter how weary or tenuous the grip. A contemplative record, to be sure—one that takes-on weighty, difficult subjects—but spiked with irresistible hooks and, ultimately, a zest for life that bursts through the grooves. On the infectiously funky, disco-influenced title track, for example, McManus pulls a lover in close, imploring her to take stock of the simple fact that they’re both still alive. “Time, it goes faster still,” he sings, before “Due to problems that are typical of humankind.”
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