The great thing about alternative rock is its versatility, its fluidity and its insatiable appetite to reinvent, experiment and constantly push boundaries. So, when you come across a band such as “Lithium Lounge”, it’s testament to the long-standing influences of 90s rock, whilst celebrating the diversity of present time innovation. It’s music that shines from the luminaries of post-punk, post-hardcore, punk-funk and grunge, whilst igniting an inferno of inflamed originality. Think Fugazi, Minor Threat, Nirvana, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, hanging out with Steve Albini in the millennium Waiting Room, firing up the cylinders of unreleased anthems, then you might get an idea what they are about.
Based in Waterford, Ireland, Lithium Lounge are comprised of Lucas Anderson on vocals, Shane Power on drums, Max Maciej Kaczmarski on bass, and Oisín McGrath on guitar, whose forthcoming EP, “State of Tha!’, has been selected as The Manc Review’s “EP of The Month”. Listening to the EP, and the whole back catalogue of Lithium Lounge, you quickly learn that they are a band of substance, fierce independence and uncompromising expression, that rewires and re-routes the ethos of DIY punk. They are firefighters, fighting fire with fire, whilst spitting on the flames of arsonists. Featuring the tracks First World Humiliation, Mad Dog, Take A Shot, and Burden, State of Tha! is an epic EP, that extinguishes dystopian society with a wave of combatant utopia.
Politically driven, and anthemically angst, State of Tha! unmasks the theatrics of nu-metal and groove metal and reveals a riotous dose of protest punk. Unpredictable and diverse, State of Tha! megaphones the voice of a generation, whilst stomping in the mosh-pit of nostalgia. Raw and real, yet cinematic and windswept, State of Tha! drones outside the comfort zones of alternative rock, whilst dialling the amp up a notch or two. Through their guttural vocals, catchy choruses, adrenaline-fuelled riffs, spiked strums and robust beats, State of Tha! soars and roars beyond the preening prowess of post-grunge and offers a collective stance of gritty narratives and punk-poetry.
Recorded live at Hive Studios, in Waterford City, by the legendary John Haggis, and mastered by Bill Skibbe at Third Man Records, in Chicago, State of Tha! is an EP worth checking out, placing Lithium Lounge firmly on the radar of one of the most promising bands to come out of Ireland in recent years.
Released on June 13th 2026 via OK Granny Records, State of Tha! is available on all digital platforms.
State of Tha | Lithium Lounge – bandcamp
Video shot by Chilean film-maker Alfonso Palma,