New York City is rightfully regarded as one of the hotbeds of American punk music, but coming out of the Bronx district presented some challenges to Synapses Firing's singer and guitarist Sean Dowling. “We all come from the Bronx hardcore/punk scene which sometimes had rough edges," Dowling says. "As we grew older, we all drifted towards musical influences outside of metal and hardcore, and wanted a project to reflect that. Making a music scene work in the Bronx was always an uphill battle, there are very few places to practice out here, no house shows and very few all ages events. Cops and neighbors were never used to hearing a punk show down the block. There was never a culture or a model to follow.”
Originally formed as an acoustic project allowing Dowling to develop his songwriting chops in work outside of hardcore and metal, Synapses Firing has, over the past five years and a series of releases, expanded out to a four-piece specializing in a crunchy sort of alt rock that has unmistakeable punk influences. The band is now getting set for the October release of Ruining You, a new full-length containing a mixture of songs both old and new that, as the band's Facebook page describes, hit "straight from the gut to the jaw."
Listen to first single "Mention Me" below and head over to the Synapses Firing Facebook page for more info and to pre-order Ruining You.
