Gouge Away

Gouge Away, from Florida, channel a dense strain of hardcore punk that recalls 1990s predecessors including the Jesus Lizard and Babes in Toyland while foregrounding lyrics focused on social concerns and raw personal feeling. The group surfaced from Fort Lauderdale’s underground in 2016 with the album , Dies and gained wider notice via the 2018 Deathwish follow-up Burnt Sugar. Frequent touring filled the next several years, during which fresh songs were tested on stage before the 2023 single “Idealized” appeared.

Christina Michelle (vocals), Mick Ford (guitars), Tyler Forsythe (bass), and Tommy Cantwell (drums) formed the band in 2012. They entered the local live circuit in 2013 at roughly the same moment they recorded and self-released their first EP, Still Bored. An initial plan limited to cutting one EP and playing a single show quickly gave way to regular appearances as a fixture of the regional scene. The second EP, Focus Your Anger, arrived that Halloween, after which the quartet kept performing at shows and benefits for nearby charities and activist organizations. By the middle of 2015 they had begun tracking their debut full-length, signed with the Florida indie Eighty-Six Records, and set out on a first national tour. With , Dies issued at year’s end, early 2016 brought U.S. dates in support plus a national opening slot with Touché Amoré and Ceremony.

The year 2017 brought the single “Swallow” together with additional live activity that included a second tour alongside Touché Amoré. Returning to the studio, Gouge Away worked with Touché Amoré’s Jeremy Bolm and Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Jeff Rosenstock) in the producer’s chair. Deathwish, Inc. released the sophomore album Burnt Sugar in 2018; more intensely personal than the debut, the record earned favorable critical notice, prompting a year of touring in 2019 while new ideas for a third album were captured during breaks.

Inspired by the political climate across the American landscape, the band issued the aggressive 2020 single “Consider,” backed by a cover of Pixies’ “Wave of Mutilation,” with a portion of sales donated to charity. After a period away, they returned to earlier demos and resumed recording in earnest with Jack Shirley at his Atomic Garden studio in Oakland, California. Captured mostly live to analog tape, the 2023 single “Idealized” served as the first release from those sessions and preceded the third studio album, Deep Sage, in 2024.