Bandleader Matt Stephensen once called Machine Girl “an agent of chaos; a positive force of destruction.” That becomes clearer with every album, and they’ve just announced their latest, Psycho Warrior (MG Ultra X), out Oct. 24 via Future Classic.
As their second record in as many years, Psycho Warrior (MG Ultra X) slots into the same arc as 2024’s MG Ultra, with the latter exploring mind control and the former tapping into the collective unconscious. It’s also their first made since expanding into a trio, rounded out by Sean Kelly and Lucy Caputi. “I’d been reading analytical psychology and the writings of Joseph Campbell and Jung,” Stephenson says of its genesis. “There’s a concept of the collective unconscious and these archetypes that we innately have. We adopt different personae in order to get through the day. In essence, you complete yourself by facing your shadow self. To do so, you must accept the less savory aspects of who you are. There’s a lot of validity to these theories. Right now, we’re a very psychologically damaged culture and society. We’re being pushed over the edge with social media and technology. Any chance of resistance against these systems starts in the mind.”
Read more: Fan poll: 5 best hardcore bands right now
Following last month’s “Come On Baby, Scrape My Data,” they’ve shared “Rabbit Season,” zapping us into a cyberspace rave. “With Machine Girl’s lyrics, I’ll take some dystopian or dark subject matter and flip it into something more lighthearted,” he adds. “I took the concept of conspiracy rabbit holes and used it to make a bouncy dance track. It discusses the cartoonish world of conspiracies and false, subjective realities people are trapping themselves inside of.”
Machine Girl will play a handful of shows before the end of the year, including their annual Halloween gig in NYC (which doubles as an album release show), a Levitation appearance, and an LA date at The Fonda Theatre.
Machine Girl – Psycho Warrior (MG Ultra X) tracklist
- “We Don’t Give A Fuck”
- “Come On Baby, Scrape My Data”
- “Ignore The Vore”
- “Rabbit Season”
- “Creeping Up From The Pit”
- “Psychowar”
- “Innermission”
- “Dual Wield”
- “ID Crisis Angel”
- “Down To The Essence”
- “Despite Having No Money At All I’m Just Another”
- “Phantom Doom”
- “Dread Architect” (feat. Drumcorps)
- “I-Void Destroyer”
