In my head I am not dead
A breakup is rarely finished just because somebody has delivered the closing speech. There are still arguments to rehearse, streets to avoid, and a suspicious number of reasons to take the long way home. Madison, Wisconsin’s Whippets give that unfinished business a suitably unhealthy bounce on Not Dead, a song in which announcing “This is the end” does very little to stop the next bad idea.
Premiering today, Not Dead previews the trio’s second album, No Skulls, due October 2, 2026, through Bobby Hussy’s No Coast label. With Hussy on guitar and vocals, Tyler Spatz on bass, and Hart Miller on drums, Whippets bring post-punk, grunge, and garage rock into a close, uncomfortable embrace, leaving plenty of room for deathrock’s theatrical appetites.
A thick, ominous bass figure gets things moving before the drums cascade into a serpentine guitar hook, bringing a horror-film leer to the song’s garage abrasion. Hussy’s voice quivers and twists around the words, making private misery sound like something that might require an exorcist. The rhythm soon acquires an infectious bounce, with Spatz’s bass holding the floor beneath the guitar’s crooked turns and Miller’s mounting commotion. There is something of Dance with Me-era T.S.O.L. in this marriage of morbid theatre and physical release: music for pogoing through a personal catastrophe, with an ’80s post-punk chorus sharp enough to remember the following morning.
The lyrics make repeated attempts to draw a line under the relationship. “This is the end” and “We are not friends” sound decisive enough, until the other admissions begin slipping through. The refrain’s insistence on being alive comes with a revealing qualification: “In my head.” That is where the old attachment continues to conduct its business, untouched by whatever has happened outside it. By the closing “No need to lie / I still drive by,” the brave farewell has become an unwanted return visit. Whippets give that contradiction a beat you can jump to, allowing the uglier implications to catch up between choruses.
Hussy says:
“Our new record, “No Skulls” is by far the best record I’ve ever recorded….and I’ve recorded a few at this point in my life. I’m very proud of both the songs and the production on this album. “Not Dead” is the second single from the album and it perfectly represents everything I love about this band: Sharp guitar riffs, hypnotic dirty bass lines that pivot in all the right places and drums that escalate frantically as needed. Catch us shredding this one out on tour in Europe!”
No Skulls features ten tracks, recorded and mixed by Hussy, produced by Bert Roberts and Whippets, and mastered by Justin Perkins. The cover artwork is by Erin Sullivan. The album comes out October 2 on LP, CD, and digital formats, with the chartreuse-and-black swirl vinyl limited to 100 copies.
Listen to Not Dead below and pre-order No Skulls here.
Whippets introduced themselves with a 2022 seven-inch EP on Italy’s Goodbye Boozy, which sold out within a week, followed by their self-titled debut album on No Coast in 2024. Readers may remember Splinter, whose deathrock inclinations made an early case for the band’s particular chemistry. Their shared history reaches further back: Hussy and Spatz have both played in The Hussy and Cave Curse, and also work together in Wristwatch, while Miller’s past bands include Tenement, MDC, and Wartorn. That experience gives the trio a useful feel for how much disorder a memorable song can accommodate.
Whippets take the No Skulls on the road this autumn, with October shows alongside Busey and Brüder and a November date supporting The Faint. A 23-date European tour follows in January and February 2027. See the upcoming itinerary below.
Whippets take No Skulls on the road this autumn, with October shows alongside Busey and Brüder and a November date with The Faint. A 23-date European tour follows in January and February 2027. See the upcoming itinerary below.
No Skulls US Tour 2026
- October 8 — Minneapolis, MN — Zhora Darling, with Busey and Brüder
- October 9 — Madison, WI — Mickey’s Tavern, with Busey and Brüder
- October 10 — Chicago, IL — Liar’s Club, with Busey and Brüder
- November 1 — Indianapolis, IN — Turntable, with The Faint
No Skulls European Tour 2027
- January 22 — Netherlands — City and venue TBA
- January 23 — Paris, France — Venue TBA
- January 24 — France — City and venue TBA
- January 25 — France — City and venue TBA
- January 26 — France — City and venue TBA
- January 27 — Köln, Germany — Sonic Ballroom
- January 28 — Dortmund, Germany — Venue TBA
- January 29 — Hamburg, Germany — Komet
- January 30 — Berlin, Germany — Schokoladen
- January 31 — Hannover, Germany — Nordstadtbraut
- February 1 — Bayreuth, Germany — Schokofabrik
- February 2 — Winterthur, Switzerland — Venue TBA
- February 3 — Tübingen, Germany — Blauer Salon
- February 4 — Stuttgart, Germany — Venue TBA
- February 5 — Karlsruhe, Germany — Alte Hackerei
- February 6 — Limburg, Netherlands — Kakadu
- February 7 — Arnhem, Netherlands — Cafe Bosch
- February 8 — Bruxelles, Belgium — Le Chaff
- February 9 — France — City and venue TBA
- February 10 — Annecy, France — Venue TBA
- February 11 — Germany — City and venue TBA
- February 12 — Groningen, Netherlands — Vera, with Primitive Ring
- February 13 — Netherlands — City and venue TBA
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