Telescreens aren’t interested in subtlety right now. Their new single “Otherside of Town” lands with a kind of restless urgency that feels less like a comeback and more like a pressure release.
Out now via +1 Records, the track previews their upcoming album Why The Lights Flicker, due June 12, and it leans hard into what the band does best. Guitars feel sharp and wired, the rhythm section pushes forward without hesitation, and the chorus locks in fast and doesn’t let go. It’s immediate in a way that feels intentional, not accidental.
What gives the song its edge isn’t just the sound, it’s the frustration underneath it. Frontman Jackson Hamm has been vocal about his exhaustion with algorithm-driven culture, the endless loop of recycled ideas and attention traps. That tension runs straight through “Otherside of Town.” It doesn’t read like commentary from a distance. It feels like someone stuck inside the machine, pushing back in real time.
The video mirrors that sense of reflection, pulling in childhood footage and grounding the band in something more personal. It’s less about nostalgia and more about contrast, where they started versus what they’re navigating now.
That duality carries into Why The Lights Flicker. The album stretches across 20 tracks, which sounds excessive until you realize the band is chasing something bigger than a tight, polished statement. There’s a conceptual thread running through it, tied to ideas of synchronicity and those strange moments that feel too precise to be coincidence. It’s ambitious, sometimes messy, but never passive.
More importantly, it feels earned. Telescreens have been grinding through years of touring and rebuilding, including a major label stint that didn’t stick. Now operating independently, there’s a sense of control that sharpens everything.
If this is their attempt at a definitive New York rock record, it doesn’t try to replicate the past. It sounds like a band reacting to the present, loud, impatient, and fully aware of the noise they’re cutting through.
Featured image credit: Art Davison
