Kevin Bronson on June 24th, 2020

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PSA: After live music returns, don’t forget to make it a point to see Gateway Drugs perform their album “PSA.” Their long-awaited sophomore album arrived right in the middle of the pandemic — lousy luck there — but in today’s QUARANTUNES, they share a silver lining, and a playlist steeped in history.

THE LATEST FROM GATEWAY DRUGS

Last month, L.A. psych-rockers Gateway Drugs released their second album (and first in five years), “PSA,” whose tongue-in-cheek title only hints at its prickly moods and bristling sound. The band — Niles siblings Liv, Noa and Gabe, along with James Stewart — said they were going for “raw, sincere, chaotic and primal,” and they got it, courtesy of production by the Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner. Fans of Wagner’s band, the Jesus and Mary Chain, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the shoegazey side of the Duke Spirit should pull up a chair. “Wait (Medication)”, released in late March, was an immediate highlight, and for the next two singles, Gabe and Liv traded off lead vocals on “Slumber” and “I’m Always Around,” respectively. But the closers certify “PSA” as a true long-player: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” offers a fuzzy addendum, based in current reality, to the Gil Scott-Heron pronouncement, and “Psychotic Reaction” is a brawny cover of a 1966 song by the Count Five. Gateway Drugs’ album, like the band’s playlist below, goes deep.

HOW ARE YOU HOLDING UP AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MANAGE THE ‘STAY AT HOME’ EDICT?

Gateway Drugs: We are doing well; we’re lucky we haven’t been severely affected by the pandemic as so many others have. It’s been interesting to release our record in the midst of a quarantine, and it’s difficult not to play live shows in support of the release. Sense of community is very important to us, it’s what we miss most about performing. The silver lining to all of this is people have been able to connect with us and share their love and support for “PSA.”

WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO WHEN THIS IS ALL OVER?

Gateway Drugs: Playing shows and touring. Seeing people happy and healthy again. Returning to some sense of normalcy.

ANYTHING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THIS PLAYLIST?

Gateway Drugs: Listen loud and have a dance party with yourself. GD loves you.