Weymouth’s alternative-rock trio Sadcult return with a bruising, euphoric new single that finds catharsis in the chaos of growing up.
‘Outcry’ is a towering blast of alternative rock that wears its influences proudly while putting its own “happy-sad” stamp on the sound. There are the scuffed edges of ’90s grunge, the widescreen emotional pull of early-2000s alt-rock and a shot of pop-punk urgency running through its veins. It’s abrasive without losing its hooks, heavy without surrendering its sense of melody.
At the centre of it all are walls of distorted guitars, punching drums and soaring hooks, with Sam Newland’s snarling vocal delivery comparable to Billy Corgan which cuts through the noise. Despite the grunge and even emo-rock undercurrents, Sadcult aren’t interested in wallowing, even at their darkest, there’s always the sense that something is about to break through.
‘Outcry’ is built around that tension: hope rubbing against heartbreak, nostalgia colliding with reality, and the uncomfortable realisation that growing up rarely looks like the version you imagined.
Speaking about the new single, the band says: “Outcry is one of those songs that is going to mean something different depending on who’s listening to it. But at its core, Outcry touches on the reality of growing up and witnessing certain illusions fade, dealing with that frustration, and coming to terms with the fact that life very rarely plays out the way that you imagined it would.
The track is saturated in angst and has a very punk attitude throughout, very heavily influenced by bands such as early Green Day and Nirvana being the driving force behind the sound and overall energy.
‘Outcry’ was mostly recorded at our small home studio, which gave us the freedom to really experiment and capture the energy we wanted, whilst having the drums recorded separately at Orchard Studios in Glastonbury by our mixing engineer Joe Marsh.”
Sadcult have steadily built their audience from the ground up, with their music connecting with listeners far beyond Dorset. The connection with their audience has been tangible. For previous single Low, fans from across the world came together to create a collaborative lyric video, turning what could have been a straightforward release into something that reflected the community growing around the band.
Sadcult have played a significant role in breathing new life into Weymouth’s alternative scene, helping create space for a new generation of local artists and audiences. Their recent sold-out, 150-capacity hometown headline show felt like more than another date in the diary: it was a snapshot of a grassroots scene the trio have helped build themselves.
Now they’re taking that energy further afield joining Canadian alt-rockers The Jins for multiple dates on their UK tour, and shared stages with Sick Joy and James and the Cold Gun. Each step has pushed Sadcult further beyond their Dorset base without diluting the DIY spirit that got them there in the first place.
‘Outcry’ feels like a natural progression. It has the scuffed-up immediacy of a song made by a band who know exactly what they want to sound like, but enough melodic muscle to make it stick around after the distortion dies down.
There’s anger here, certainly. There’s disappointment, frustration and the uneasy business of realising that adulthood doesn’t always deliver on its promises. But Sadcult have found the upside of all that noise.
