Chatterbox and the Latter Day Satanists – Musician Spotlight – Mad Indie Media

Chatterbox and the Latter Day Satanists, a folk-punk band from Boulder, Colorado, has released a new album their first full-length release since the 2013 record, Talk is Cheap Guns Are Expensive. The new album The Difference Between Thieves and Crooks features notable tracks such as Time to be Alive, Humble Rat, Last Bastion, Chump, & Good Skin Cells Spent some of which were played on the Chatterbox & The Laterday Satanists appearance on DIY sessions shot by Punk With A Camera. 

Chatterbox and the Latter Day Satanists staunchly oppose racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, capitalism, the police, and all other forms of oppression; which is obvious upon the first listen. The band, which supports DIY punk ethos, harm reduction, and community building tackles interesting subject matter within the lyrical content of their songs, singing about police brutality, transphobia, capitalism, nihilism, and apathy.

This album has absolutely stunning album art created by the talented, Chet Knebel of The Stupid Stupid Henchmen; and features all the great folk-punk sounds that one would expect to hear, with vast stylistic variation from song to song – great group vocals, musical saw, accordion, trumpet, banjo, violin & more! A track to highlight, for many reasons is HumbleRat. As an enjoyer of Modest Mouse, this track particularly stood out for its similarities in motifs of life force, time, a fleeting sense of purpose, even echoing a verse from Modest Mouse’s song “Shit Luck” – This plane is definitely crashing!  

Pre-Covid the band would regularly tour playing shows all over the county in various regions and cities. We here at Mad Indie Media have been fans of Chatterbox & the Latter Day Satanists for a few years now seeing them at some of their east coast tour dates; including their 2017 appearance at Halyards in Brooklyn NY while on tour with RENT STRIKE (who also put out a great 3 track EP earlier this year). The head-honcho over at RENT STRIKE also happens to be delivering the twang via the banjo on this album, John Warmb.

Time to Be Alive is filled with classic politi-punk vibes, an upbeat progression with somber lyricism about the devastating intricacies that is our collective current state of reality. Last Bastion is an uptempo song filled with quick-paced accordion, violin shrills, and leads and a bouncy, danceable rhythm. Good Skin Cells Spent is a phenomenal track written in the classic Chatterbox & LDS style of calling attention to social issues which in this song range from homelessness, to crashing your bike and aggressive drivers amongst other things. Chump channels the inner blink-182 vibes with its intro riff which quickly becomes the string-filled twangy folk-punk sound we know, love, and expect from the band; the song is an opposition to hatred, racism, and all-around shittiness – as the song states, “there’s really nothing political about it”.

The Difference Between Theive & Crooks not only lives up to the anticipation I have personally built since first hearing their music in 2016 but exceeds it. Be on the lookout for potential upcoming digital events as members of the band have recently appeared on a popular reoccurring live-streaming event Coping with Dystopia.

The Difference Between Theive & Crooks was released on Nov. 26th, 2020, and is available on Spotify. Support Chatterbox & The Latter Day Satanists by purchasing their music & merchandise on Bandcamp.

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