One of the great dichotomies of modern life is our urgency to move forward at a time when we have no idea where we are going.
The impact of the past two years, on every human level, cannot be understated, but whatâs perhaps more terrifying about where weâve been is the lack of understanding of where weâre headed. Itâs created a tightness to the right here, right now, and the tension itâs creating throughout society is becoming increasingly hostile. Salem Wolves have captured that paranoia and agitation through their ferocious new record Hostile Music, with its title track crashing the streams, complete with lyric video, on Wednesday, January 19.  Â
The five-song EP, set for release this spring after a monthly rollout of singles (the fiery âHostile Musicâ this month; psych-rock tumbler âWe Arenât Your Friendsâ in February; and the haunting âBreaking Groundsâ in March, completed by live versions of Wolves classics âTitaniumâ and âTurn to Goldâ), center around the people weâve changed into, and the myriad ways that isolation and fear can change and distort a person. The feeling rings through in true psychotronic fury for the New England quartet, with their first new music since last yearâs 617Sessions with the Boston Music Awards (âParaffinâ), where they were nominated for Rock Act of the Year. They didnât win, but these days, few do.Â
âHostile Music is about the feeling of hostility thatâs all around us right now, trying to explore and unpack what it feels like to live constantly under siege by a toxic culture and society,â says Salem Wolves singer and guitarist Gray Bouchard. âHostility is probably the behavior Iâve struggled with the most in my life, especially the past few years â people being hostile to me, me being mean right back. Hostility isnât rage, it isnât righteousness, it isnât indignation â itâs distrust. Itâs not a particularly useful feeling⊠hostility doesnât change the world, it canât make anything better. Itâs a behavior that separates us.â
And thatâs the core of this new batch of songs from Salem Wolves, a mainstay in the Boston music scene who are extending outreach to capture the zeitgeist of not just a city, but the nation at large. Because whatâs happening here is happening over there, despite the man-made borders that separate us.   Â
Salem Wolves are:
Gray Bouchard: Vocals and Guitar
Don Schweihofer: Drums and vocals
Justin Tisdale: Bass
Sam Valliere: Guitar
âI felt compelled to write about the feeling of hostility, from within and from outside, to give a form to that sense things arenât getting better and we canât keep going like this,â Bouchard adds. âWeâve never been much of a kumbaya, âeverybody get together, love one anotherâ kind of group, but I do think if we can give it a name, we can try and fight it. Writing it is exorcising that demon as well as reflecting the dark place weâre at now.â
The Hostile Music EP finds Salem Wolves at a fully-realized state. Following the release of last yearâs Never Die!!! EP, and their 2018 debut album Shake, Bouchard reloaded the Wolves lineup in late 2021 to feature drummer Don Schweihofer, bassist Justin Tisdale, and guitarist Sam Valliere. He calls it a more ferocious and versatile lineup, with the basic core of Salem Wolves â loud, emotionally urgent music â still intact. This is still a band that writes the songs that they want to hear, but thereâs a deeper, more complex craftsmanship and arrangement to Bouchardâs primal slash-and-burn tendencies, as if theyâve abandoned the suburban garage for an urban military bunker. And that rings true in the Hostile Music EPâs title track, perhaps the bandâs most incendiary work to date.Â
âWeâve always been drawn to exploring complicated, unsavory characters and feelings,â Bouchard notes. âBoth the music and the ideas of âHostile Musicâ evoke that: Weâre not here to save the world, weâre here to reflect it â unflattering angles and all. The song is dark and desperate, but also a soaring plea to come together. We know weâre not alone in feeling crushed under the weight of hostility, so weâre hoping this song gives some relief to the folks who feel like us, something they can sing along to, to know the world doesnât need to be so lonely.â He adds: âWith so much of our lives lived in isolation these days, itâs easy to breed hostility. When all we have is a screen to look at the lives and thoughts of others, that little window doesnât allow for much humanity to shine through. We judge folks harshly. We set up walls against people and behaviors we find unsavory. Maybe thereâs some wisdom and self-care in that, but the feeling of anger and distrust against someone itself is toxic. It eats away at you. The song is a wake-up call: We canât live in this state of hostility all the time.â
Especially with tomorrowâs perpetual unknown.
Photo Credit: Erin Patton