Sarah Shook & the Disarmers Release Autobiographical New Album

Out March 29, 2024 on Abeyance Records and Thirty Tigers, Revelations, the latest effort from Sarah Shook and the Disarmers, is a collection of 10 “lived-in” songs and “salt-of-the-earth” stories, self-produced by bandleader River Shook (they/them) for the very first time. Across the record, they “channel the commanding energy and dogged spirit of their ferocious live shows into pointed reflections on class consciousness, navigating mental health under the confines of capitalism, celebrating gay love and complicated feelings, and working through lifelong struggles of substance abuse and unhealthy relationships,” as it’s put in a press release.

With River Shook at the helm, Revelations captures the band’s collision of punk rock truth-telling and outlaw country twang, and the results are raw and unfiltered.  

“A lot of artists are in this industry for fame, recognition and money, but those things don’t mean anything to me,” says Shook in a press release. “Songwriting is it for me. It’s the only real healthy coping mechanism I’ve ever had. It’s life-saving, and all of my writing is autobiographical. I write everything based on my observations and experiences, but there was something about Revelations that felt more personal to me. I unlocked this level of honesty with myself and an ability to be more objective about the things I struggle with daily. I’m a firm believer that if you are an artist, and you want to make better art, a big part of that isn’t just exercising your musical skills, it’s growing as a human being. So every time I make a record, I want to be able to listen to it and look back on who I was then. I want to see this arc and this evolution. That’s really fucking important to me.”  

Alongside the news of Revelations, the band has issued the lead single “Backsliders,” a song that brings Shook back to their bar tending days in a Chapel Hill dive called the Cave. Combining self-deprecating and longing lyrics with a deceptively buoyant arrangement, “Backsliders” illustrates not only the special and sometimes tumultuous romantic entanglements experienced by service workers, but also how easy it is to fall into bad habits when dealing with any type of loss.   

Revelations follows Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’ 2022 release of Nightroamer, which earned praise from NPR Weekend Edition, Rolling Stone and many other outlets, as well as the 2022 debut of River Shook’s synth-rock solo project, Mightmare.  

Photo credit: Jillian Clark