Stunt Drummer have today premiered their new video titled ‘Pool’, from their upcoming album ‘Warm Up, Tiger’, dropping this Friday via Cavity Search Records.
Somewhere between a basement show and a half chlorinated daydream, Stunt Drummer have figured out how to bottle that specific kind of restless energy that makes you want to text someone you should not. ‘Pool’ lands with a loose confidence that feels almost accidental, like the band just stumbled into a groove and decided not to mess it up by overthinking. It is scrappy in the right ways and polished in the places that actually matter.
The guitars shimmer without getting precious about it, circling around a melody that sticks faster than you would expect from something this casually delivered. There is a sunburned haze to the whole thing, but it never drifts into laziness. Instead, it feels intentional, like every jangly note and offhand vocal line is part of a bigger shrug that somehow translates into charm.
Vocally, the track leans into that detached but secretly invested tone that indie bands chase and rarely nail. The delivery rides the line between bored and sincere, which ends up making the emotional undercurrent hit harder than a more theatrical approach ever could. You get the sense that something real is being said, even if it is buried under a layer of cool indifference.
What really sells ‘Pool’ is its pacing. It never rushes, never drags, and somehow manages to feel both immediate and slightly out of reach. The rhythm section deserves more credit than it will probably get, quietly holding everything together while letting the rest of the track wander just enough to stay interesting. It is the kind of song that sneaks up on you two listens in and suddenly refuses to leave.
With ‘Warm Up, Tiger’ dropping this Friday, Stunt Drummer are setting the tone with something that feels effortless but clearly is not. ‘Pool’ suggests a band that understands its own appeal without trying to package it into something cleaner or more marketable. If this is the warm up, the main event might actually be worth sticking around for.
‘Warm Up, Tiger’ Tracklist
- Pool
- Chinese Windows
- Warm Up
- Voodoo
- Vortex
- Paul, The Pear Farmer
- Switch
- White Tiger
- Dress
About Stunt Drummer
Stunt Drummer is a four-piece noise-garage punk band hailing from Portland, Oregon, known for their raw, unrelenting sound and chaotic live performances. Following their 2023 self-titled debut, the band is set to unleashWarm Up, Tiger, their sophomore album, on Cavity Search Records in the spring of 2026. With nine tracks that range from frenetic, in-your-face punk to hypnotic, noise-drenched grooves,Warm Up, Tigercaptures the band at its most explosive and experimental, offering a sonic punch that both rattles and rewards the listener.
Comprised of Marty Buckenmeyer (guitar and vocals), Erik Becker (guitar and vocals), Ethan Schee (bass), and J Leaver (drums), Stunt Drummer’s creative process is a blend of spontaneous energy and careful collaboration. According to Ethan, the album came together organically, as the band found themselves “bursting at the seams with songs we were happy with.” These songs, he says, were “getting cohesive and sounding less like an individual members’ song and more like a delicious goulash.” Erik adds, “The songs we had been playing live for a bit (along with some older stuff) and they were sounding good and deserved to get packaged into something shiny for the scrapbook.”
From the very beginning, Stunt Drummer’s music has been about the chaos of creation – the moments when something unexpected clicks and turns into a song. This philosophy is embodied in the album’s title,Warm Up, Tiger. For the band, the name is a playful mishmash of ideas. As Ethan explains, “The name is just a dice roll of combinations of the songs we recorded. Our best songs are mash-ups of ideas that didn’t initially seem like they’d go together. Maybe they still don’t, but they make us laugh and we can mostly count our way through them.” Erik concurs, adding, “Basically what Ethan said, combo of some song titles bits within, and it had a nice ring to it, maybe there is double meaning in there. We are just getting started.” Marty, ever the provocateur, offers a more cryptic take: “Warm Up, Tiger. You’re probably not ready for what you’re about to listen to.”
That sense of unpredictability extends to the music itself. From the opening blast of “Pool” to the hypnotic, drone-laden closer “Dress,”Warm Up, Tigerpushes boundaries in every direction. The songs veer between noise-driven assaults and moments of surprising groove, with tracks like the nearly six-minute “Voodoo” defying expectations and offering a meditative, almost hypnotic break from the usual two-to-three minute punk bursts. The album’s diversity is no accident. Marty explains, “The songs all came from very different places. But the way we write is very collaborative, and most of these songs were hashed out as a group. It’s not like somebody comes to practice with a complete song. Most of these songs are actually the results of happy accidents from just messing around with a riff at practice – or literally from mistakes that we make.”
This spirit of collaboration and spontaneity carried over into the recording process. While the band didn’t approach the sessions with a strict vision, they knew they wanted to preserve the energy and rawness of their live shows. Ethan says, “I don’t really know how to make this sound that interesting, but sitting and listening to playback really made me realize how much I like these songs.” Recording in a small room, with minimal overdubs and a focus on capturing the live energy, the band worked with engineer Ezra Meredith at Deer Lodge Studios, who helped shape the album’s final sound. Erik, reflecting on the process, says, “It came out better than whatever I was thinking. It was awesome to have Ezra do all the recording and knob-twisting so we could just play and get it out.”
One of the defining elements of Stunt Drummer’s sound is the unique way their voices and personalities blend together. Though early in the band’s development, Marty and Erik’s songs were often divided into “Marty songs” and “Erik songs,”Warm Up, Tigershowcases how well the two guitarists’ voices work together. As Ethan puts it, “I love how Marty and Erik’s voices work off of each other. A lot of the formative stages were either ‘it’s a Marty song, or it’s an Erik Song.’ But their voices blend in a few places that are really fun and even play well in how one song leads into the next.” The combination of Erik’s abrasive, almost deadpan delivery and Marty’s more melodic, yet equally forceful approach creates a compelling push and pull throughout the record.
The lyrics onWarm Up, Tigercontinue the band’s tradition of mixing dark, surreal imagery with irreverent humor. Tracks like “Pool” offer nightmarish visions of apocalyptic floods and the inevitable chaos that accompanies them. “I get imagery in my head of hell opening up from underneath a small hotel swimming pool,” says Ethan. “Erik repeats ‘everyone in this place is gonna drown.’ I feel like that’s the chant people are going to remember.” For Erik, the song came from a place of dark humor mixed with a sense of impending doom. “’Pool’ is kinda funny, kinda dark, and catchy like a cold,” he explains. “That line just popped out of me one evening and it rolled from there. Giant tidal wave, old, young, too cool hipsters, everyone is going to get it, might as well cannonball into it when it comes.”
Other tracks on the album tap into personal experiences, like Erik’s “Paul, The Pear Farmer,” which features the memorable line, “the bees f**k the trees so we can stay alive.” As Erik recalls, the line came from a conversation with a real-life pear farmer friend of his: “I had that line in my head driving home and the rest of the story came out with it pretty fluidly. I embellished things a bit in the tale, even though I called her a ‘no good wife’and the bees went after her, protecting Paul, Paul’s wife Holly is actually a lovely person, ha.” The track’s absurdity and depth are a perfect reflection of the band’s writing process – finding meaning in the weird and unexpected.
AlthoughWarm Up, Tigeris a studio record, it’s clear the band wanted to preserve the essence of their live show. Ethan sums it up, saying, “We want it to be a live representation. Any added layers we put on in the studio, even the organ or the saxophone, we’d like to think could be busted out or recreated live.” Marty agrees, adding that their live shows have only gotten better since recording. “Recording these songs made us tighter musically for sure,” he says. “Since we started recording, our live shows have gotten way better.”
When it comes to their place in the musical landscape, Stunt Drummer doesn’t try to fit into a box. Ethan says, “I’d like to think that we’re a good, loud live band whose songs are memorable. But maybe not memorable for sing-alongs as much as for having had a crazy experience.” For Erik, the band’s place is clear: “In a medium-sized, dimly lit bar with cheap drinks and free Narcan, in front of the restroom door.”
The Portland music scene, rich in loud, eclectic bands, has long been an inspiration for Stunt Drummer. Ethan lists local bands they admire, including Merwulf, Sharp Kicks, and The Exploding Whales. But the band’s influences also stretch far beyond their hometown, with names like Fugazi, Jesus Lizard, and Drive Like Jehu shaping their sound.
For Stunt Drummer,Warm Up, Tigeris just the beginning. The band has already begun working on new material, with plans to play more live shows and continue pushing the boundaries of their sound. “[Our goal with this record is to] play more live shows, play some better places that have a sound guy so people can hear all the important s**t we are yelling about,” says Erik with a smirk. Ethan is more succinct, summing up the band’s ambitions for the album: “Get people pumped, make it a party, make it weird, and bob your head in 7/4 time.”
Ultimately, Stunt Drummer is about the collision of diverse influences, spontaneous energy, and a shared love of loud, chaotic music. As Marty reflects, “We’re all really different people, have different influences and whatnot, but with these songs and on this record, we take all of that, smash it together, and head in the same direction.”WithWarm Up, Tiger, the band has succeeded in creating something that’s as unpredictable, abrasive, and exhilarating as they are. And they’re just getting started.
SOURCE: Official Bio
LINKS:
https://stuntdrummer.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/stunt_drummer/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5LkTBZrblR0u3EsILW5I3O