After more than a decade since their last full-length release and while they release in the meantime a trilogy of EPs, Modern Life Is War—the seminal hardcore outfit known for blending raw emotion with poetic fury—has returned.
Their new album, Life on the Moon, will be released on September 5, 2025, via Deathwish Inc. (Converge, Loma Prieta, Oathbreaker, THE HOPE CONSPIRACY…) in collaboration with Iodine Recordings (DROUGHT, Horsewhip, Onelinedrawing…).
More than just a comeback, ‘Life on the Moon’ is a statement—an excavation of grief, memory, and resilience, carved through the band’s signature blend of emotionally-charged hardcore, southern-tinged rock grit, and a literary narrative edge. The record marks a powerful evolution for the Iowa band that helped define 2000s melodic hardcore, now older, sharper, and unflinchingly honest.
‘Life on the Moon’ was shaped slowly over several years with the help of longtime collaborator Brooks Strause and close friends of the band. The result is a record that feels deeply personal yet universally resonant. It doesn’t just revisit familiar emotional terrain; it widens the lens, digging deeper into themes of loss, existential unrest, and the blurred line between dreams and nightmares.
Modern Life Is War has always occupied a singular space in hardcore punk—eschewing gimmicks in favor of lyrical depth, stripped-down production, and ferocious honesty that resonated far beyond the underground. With ‘Life on the Moon’, they don’t just reclaim their voice—they evolve it.
Twelve years since their last LP, the band proves the flame still burns. ‘Life on the Moon’ isn’t just about mourning what’s lost—it’s about confronting it, living through it, and making art from the wreckage.
From now, the band shares a first single called « Johnny Gone » available now with the following comments.
“A subvertisement. A joke? A Riddle. I feel so obsolete when it comes to all this and honestly it’s about time. I am constantly thinking of quitting. Johnny (not John Paul Eich, nor John Lyndon nor John Lennon) has been called an aimless folk zero. Accused of riding around in cars and printing revolutionary newspapers and going broke. He has ideas that burn him awake at night, he cannot hold a job.
“He is erotically moved by economic threats in white envelopes from government agencies. From East Palestine Ohio to Tehran Iran. A song to settle the score and use the platform for something worth it, for once and for the first time, try to have fun with it. Like a neurotic flash of lightning. A ball of fire in the night sky from a chattery missile sent to shatter peacetime. Starring Mickey Mouse, Mahsa Amini, Jinx, Jane and the Queen of California.” (Jeff Eaton)
…Tracklist…
- 01 Invocation
- 02 First Song on the Moon
- 03 There is a Telephone that Never Stops Ringing
- 04 Empty Shoes
- 05 Jackie Oh No
- 06 Johnny Gone
- 07 Homecoming Queen
- 08 You Look Like The Morning Sun
- 09 In the Shadow of Ingredion
- 10 Bloodsport
- 11 Kid Hard Dub
- 12 Over the Road
- 13 Talismanic
