Boston indie fuzz-punk surf-rock trio bang out upbeat music for downtrodden times on new album out Friday, September 4
We’re all caught in an endless cycle. We spend our days slaving to the grind, absorbing a barrage of bad news through a glowing screen of endless doom, and then cash out our dwindling free time balancing self-care with a natural human desire to at least try to enjoy ourselves and the lives we’ve worked so hard to create. The cost of living has skyrocketed while our quality of life has crashed, everyone feels isolated and alone together, and everything feels pretty hopeless. We’re all going through it. Today Junior are going through it, too.
The Boston trio captures the unease and tension of modern life through new album Stranger Days, a collection of upbeat tunes for downtrodden times set for release on Friday, September 4. It’s a lively batch of 10 surf’d out garage rock bangers with a punk snarl and indie bounce, all brought together by a connective thematic tissue of the band, as well as you, me, and literally everyone we know, just trying to get through another day.
“I think there’s a theme in there of being lost and trying to find your way, and what that may bring,” says vocalist and guitarist Harry O’Toole. “Stranger Days is about the ups and downs of being a loner, not knowing where you stand in your life, and trying to find that escape that helps you get to where you want to be.”
Stranger Days marks Today Junior’s first full album of new material since their 2023 self-titled record, and it’s preceded by a quartet of singles. Last year’s urgent “If You Want To” and “Coastlines” set an aggressive musical tone while offering silver linings in the lyrics, and a pair of releases this year in June’s “Keep On Pushing Me” and August’s “Werewolves of Boston” further solidified a message of togetherness in a time of social divisiveness.
As a whole, the album finds the trio – Harry O’Toole joined by brother Mike O’Toole (drums, percussion, and harmonies) and new recruit Jonathan Hislop (bass) – reflecting on just what it means to be alive and aware in a dizzying 2026, finding community in the chaos.
“This latest batch of songs comes from a place where we have felt a little lost, down, and out,” adds Harry. “I’d like to think this album has some of our most transparent and vulnerable lyrics. I can only write what I know and hope that people can find meaning or connection.”
From wandering the streets in their native Allston and witnessing the gentrifying change, where practice spaces are eliminated and local music venues shuttered, to surveying a national landscape of oppression and turmoil, Today Junior have crafted an album that sometimes tries to make sense of things, and other times creates a world of daydream escapism in tight, frenetic surf-pop garage rock songs.
“When we’ve been writing music for Today Junior, we never try to keep ourselves in a box genre-wise,” Harry says. “We always try to write music that is reflective of what we’re feeling, what we want to listen to, and try not to confine ourselves to rules.”
Recording of Stranger Days began back in 2024 at Ghost Hit Studios in West Springfield with engineer Andrew Oedel, and in the time since have balanced recording out in Western Mass. with their own DIY sessions at home in Allston After writing or demoing dozens of licks, melodies, and progressions, the band narrowed the album down to 10 indie bangers that feels like a loud, melodic, and hyperactive assessment of how we live our days.
Supercharged opener “If You Want To” is an anthemic rallying call to take control of our lives, and serves as a reminder that we are beholden to no one, especially the powers that be. The tumbling summer jam “Coastlines” takes us to a special place away from the chaos, and acts as a reminder to follow our dreams and take the good with the bad.
And the title track is a floating sonic drifter that echoes Harry’s personal experience with the motions he goes through mentally, pushing off negative or bad vibes with positive reinforcement. “There are some days when you can’t fight it off,” he adds with a laugh, “and want to just be in bed and hide away.”
In the howling “Werewolves of Boston,” the band’s final and most recent single, buoyed by artwork snapped by Hislop outside the soon-to-close Blachard’s Liquors in Allston, Today Junior tap into an inner instinct that comes out during difficult times, shaking off life’s frustrations and head out to the dive bars and live music gigs that make life worth living, sharing moments with friends and strangers under one moon.
“‘Werewolves of Boston’ is about that inner instinct that comes out no matter how much you try to avoid it,” Harry says. “When you are fed up with the routine of your daily life and want to break out into the night and feel alive. It’s about feeding that energy when you’re acting wild with your best friends or strangers you’ll never see again, howling at the moon, like animals raising the dead.”
“Waiting For A Change” finds them leaving those communal spaces and being met with a reminder that the real world is especially grim right now, and it’s okay to feel a bit down and out. And the propulsive “Keep On Pushing Me” serves as motivation to not give up when pushed off the path we’re striving for, and being resilient and having determination while following a passion, or simply just living life.
“To us, it’s about not giving up when it feels like you are being pushed off the path you’re trying to achieve,” the band says. “It’s about being resilient and having determination while following your passion, or simply just living your life. Sometimes, it feels there’s something getting in the way, especially in the world and country we’re living in today.”
Elsewhere, the warm vibe of “From The Sun” is eschewed for calling out those who live in ignorance when it comes to issues like global warming, and the record further explores themes of frustrated insomnia (“Wide Awake”), overthinking and procrastination (“Procrasrinate”), and saying goodbye to a certain feeling or era (“So Long”), which lots of us have dealt with in recent years.
Today Junior are certainly no exception, especially in the years since the last record. In addition to the societal and social changes across Boston, and especially in Allston, bassist Hannah Blauner left the band after an amicable split due to relocating to New York City, upending the work that was put in the prior two years.
“We have been through change,” Harry admits. “Some ups and downs these last few years. While getting great opportunities to play out live in the area, there’s been hardship. Between having to say goodbye to friends that left the band and Massachusetts, losing too many great places to play in this city and our longtime practice space to the corporate powers that be, and experiencing the hiked economy making it that much harder to keep the lights on for our dream of being in a band.”
He adds: “It can be a bit of a task at times finding the patience through it, and staying true to the original vision for the record. We’ve been in a bit of an upside down place from where we were pre-pandemic, but we still have a flame in our belly that can’t be put out. At our core, we are just musicians that love to play our music for people, and I don’t think anything will ever change that.”
Over the summer, Today Junior have been showcasing the sound through a series of live gigs across Massachusetts, from Somerville Porchfest to Levitate Backyard in Marshfield, to opening for Weird Nightmare in Medford and blasting through a livestream performance for the Boston Concert Network at the David Bieber Archives in Norwood. The album release party for Stranger Days will be announced later this fall.
And then, as it stands today, Stranger Days will be solidified as a document of life in 2026, our endless attempts to remain hopeful in dark times, and the dizziness of riding out all the highs and lows that surface each day. And with it comes one simple message for today, tomorrow, and whatever may come next.
“Don’t give up on your dreams, because you’re not alone,” Harry concludes, “…and guitar solos aren’t dead!
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Today Junior is:
Harry O’Toole: Guitar and lead vocals
Mike O’Toole: Drums, percussion, backing vocals, harmonies
Jonathan Hislop: Bass and backing vocals
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Today Junior release calendar:
June 4: ‘Keep On Pushing Me’ single
August 7: ‘Werewolves of Boston’ single
September 4: Stranger Days album
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‘Stranger Days’ album artwork:
Artwork by Harry O’Toole
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‘Stranger Days’ production credits:
Music and lyrics written by Harry and Mike O’Toole and performed by Today Junior
Bass guitar and harmonies on Stranger Days by Hannah Blauner
Engineered by Andrew Oedel
Produced by Today Junior and Andrew Oedel
Recorded in part at Ghost Hit Recording in West Springfield, MA
All songs mastered by Mike Tucci except: ‘Wide Awake’, ‘So Long’, ‘Procrastinate’, ‘Waiting For A Change’, and ‘From The Sun’ mastered by Bradford Krieger
Album artwork by Harry O’Toole
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Today Junior short bio:
Today Junior is a Boston based indie-rock trio known for having wild and energetic live performances. With the creative wisdom of brothers Mike and Harry O’Toole, alongside Jonathan Hislop, Today Junior presents upbeat and edgy music that is instantly catchy, but also carries its own stylistic charm. With the releases of Ride The Surf (2015) their EP Leaving Easy (2017) and Single Forever (2018) the band offers an addictive musical blend that has just been gaining steam the last few years, opening for bands such as: Brian Jonestown Massacre, Surf Curse, Jacuzzi Boys, Homeshake, So-So Glos, Adult Books, and others. New music has been a constant through the 2020s, and their latest album, Stranger Days, is set for release in September 2026
