Institute

Politically speaking, not much has changed about the way Institute exists as a band since signing to Sacred Bones. Having members in Glue, Wiccans, and Back to Back, all fellow stalwarts of the Texas punk scene, helps streamline the approach for them, as all of their bands operate from the same basic ethos. In fact, singer Moses Brown has said they’re only comfortable being on Sacred Bones because he considers the label “a punk label on steroids.” (A note from the label—“Drugs, yes. Steroids, usually no.”)

In 2014 they released Salt EP - a record full of early anarcho punk influences, but suggests longer, more experimental forms and a more incisive lyrical perspectives than their previous work.

2015 saw the emergence of Catharsis, followed by Subordination in 2017. And in 2022, Institute released Readjusting the Locks - their first album written since moving to New York. Where the previous Institute albums often wandered into the experimental, Readjusting the Locks strives to be economical, its 13 tracks clocking in at a tight 29 minutes. The band has seamlessly incorporated more ’77 rock n’ roll into their sound, some songs feeling like they could’ve been a Stiff Records single. Lyrically, this record moves away from the traditionally personal words of frontman Moses Brown. Rather than attacking the internal workings of his brain or its socialization, as on previous records, this album attempts to address the societal atmosphere in which his agita exists. 

Booking: mosescbrown@gmail.com