“Weaving a hook laden trail of grunge drawing from the alt rock of early Weezer and the ’90s Seattle powerhouses, Weakened Friends are at home in the underground. What sets them apart are the indelible riffs.”
The Line of Best Fit

“For these alt-rock throwbacks about the causes and effects of bad relationships, it’s the unapologetic singing of Sonia Sturino that’s the secret weapon.”
Pitchfork

“heavy feelings, big hooks and screeching guitars.”
NPR All Songs Considered

Portland, Maine trio Weakened Friends today share another cut from their forthcoming album Quitter, out November 19^th via Big Scary Monsters and Don Giovanni Records – emotional indie rock track ‘Tunnels’ turns visceral pain into haunting verses and anthemic choruses.

Talking about the track, lead singer Sonia Sturino said; “’Tunnels’ is a portrait of the paranoid spiral that follows when you’re hurt by someone you’ve let get close to you, complete with self-deprecation and closed off self-defence. There is a self-awareness to tunnels, with an early verse requesting “everything I said, chalk it up to a broken heart,” and in the context of that broken heart it’s easy to understand lines like “world’s a mess, I’m obnoxious and I hate myself.”

Weakened Friends dive into the honest truth of being a working musician on their new LP, Quitter, reflecting on lost friendships and self-worth swallowed up by burnout. Songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Sonia Sturino is supported by Annie Hoffman (bass/vocals) and Adam Hand (drums) – the album encapsulates a mature take on emotionally driven alternative indie.

Central to the record thematically is the empty threat of quitting music and “getting a real job”. Sturino wrestles with her relationship with music on the title track, shouting “I love it, but it never really feels okay” over scorching guitars. Despite the implications of the title, quitting is not an option for the band.  Even as friends settle into adulthood, Weakened Friends find themselves trapped in a fortress of their own creation, inseparably attached to the eternal youthfulness of life in music. In this liminal zone, life passes by and friendships are weakened, and Quitter takes plenty of time to mourn these losses.

Though the record acknowledges a perpetual state of arrested development that comes with being a musician, the band is anything but stagnant musically.  Opening themselves up to ideas outside the constraints of their slacker rock sound, Weakened Friends puts the full force of their creative ambition into “Quitter”. Inspired by watching peers go above and beyond what is expected of them, the band sought to explore each song’s fullest potential, with their most extensive pre-production and arrangement work to date. Incorporating banjo, pedal steel, horns, extensive synth arrangement and several non-instrumental sounds such as ovens and camera flashes, Weakened Friends expand on their universe of sounds on their new LP.

Quitter will be released on November 19, 2021. It is available for pre-order. The title track is available now across all streaming platforms and Bandcamp.