The years shift like sand beneath our feet, and each new generation stands bewildered at the ruins left behind, accusing voices raised toward those who came before. The elders shake their heads, muttering of innocence, of ignorance, as though history were not their signature scrawled in smoke. And the young, trembling with fury and hunger, point to the ashes and cry for justice. But blame is a wheel that turns endlessly. Who will step forward, bare-chested in the storm, and claim the burden? Don’t you feel it, too…that hollow ache? Who among us dares answer for what comes next?
New York City’s Native Sun are never ones to play it safe. Their debut LP, Concrete Language, released via TODO Records, thrums with immediacy: raw, restless. Colombian-born Danny Gomez stands at the mic with a preacher’s conviction and a fighter’s ferocity, his guitar cutting through like broken glass on wet pavement. Around him, Justin Barry steadies the bass with pulse and precision, while Jack Hiltabidle’s guitar coils and snaps. Argentine-born Nicolas Espinosa drives the charge on drums, never ornamental, always elemental.
The record feels like a furious letter written in capital letters across crumbling walls of the city. Each song is a scene from the underground: smoke, steel, sweat, and streetlight. Their latest single, Whose Kids, struts with glam’s crooked grin, recalling the stomp of T. Rex and the bravado of Mott the Hoople – even the chaos of The Monkees, but never descending into nostalgia.
The lyrics channel frustration with a generation’s hollow indulgences and empty gestures, setting fleeting rebellion against a yearning for something real. Peers and authority alike are dismissed, as the song pleads for honesty and closeness. Beneath it all lies a raw desire for escape and self-determined purpose; a call to arms to bury the hatchet of blame and place one’s stake in the shared struggle of humanity. It reminds us we are bound together, whether we like it or not. (Despite what TikTok influencers may have us believe!)
The chorus is pure electricity: call, response, a communal shout echoing against tenement bricks. Lyrically, Gomez sketches the portrait of the disillusioned, the displaced, the defiant wanderers of a fractured society. There’s fury in the phrasing, but also a rough grace for the misfits, giving them fire to burn.
The black-and-white video, directed by Conor James, captures a stripped-down performance inside a New York apartment, punctuated by smoke breaks. Watching feels like slipping into the room itself…flies on the wall in a fleeting artistic moment while the Ghost of New York City Past seems to tap gently at the window.
Watch below:
With Whose Kids, The band bridges garage urgency, punk abrasion, and art-rock ambition without calculation. Their fierce live reputation bleeds into the grooves: you hear the sweat, the stomp, the voices raised in unison. Concrete Language is the roar of a city that never sleeps.
Concrete Language is out now via TODO Records. Listen to Whose Kids below:
Native Sun spoke with Post-Punk.com about the impetus behind their lyrics, their inspirations, and where they’re at as a band in this moment.
“Whose Kids” explores your dissatisfaction with the state of your current generation–what drove you to write about this?
We didn’t set out to write a song about our generation. It came from a feeling we couldn’t ignore: people drifting through life, performing instead of living, going through the motions and keeping themselves distracted while the world unravels. Not everyone, but enough to notice a pattern of apathy and hollow gestures. The song came from wanting something real in a time that feels empty. Whose Kids isn’t about pointing fingers. It’s about holding up a mirror to a generation that feels restless but uncommitted, and asking, “Don’t you feel this too? Who’s ready to take responsibility for what comes next?”
You also cite people’s hollow gestures, boredom, and inaction as inspiration for the song–how do you see apathy seeping into today’s society? Do you find that it seeps into music (or art at large) as well?
Apathy grows when people feel powerless or burnt out. Everything is curated, quick, disposable, and it numbs us. You scroll past pain, past joy, past each other. It’s not that people don’t care, but caring takes energy, and most of us are exhausted. That same indifference shows up in art too. A lot of what gets made feels safe, polished, hollow. It’s lacking its human core. That’s what pushed us to write Whose Kids. We wanted to make something alive, messy, accountable. Something that demands attention and refuses to sit quietly. Art reflects society, and we wanted ours to push back.
This is the last single ahead of your new LP Concrete Language – how does it feel being so close to finally releasing your debut full length?
It feels surreal. This record has lived in our heads and as demos for some time, and now it’s about to exist in the world. We didn’t chase perfection, we chased honesty. Concrete Language is raw, urgent, and direct. Four people in a room wrestling with the chaos we live in, trying to give it shape, sound, and language. Releasing it is both a relief and a release. It’s letting go of what we’ve carried and hoping it connects with people who feel that same weight.
Native Sun recently played shows with Geese, Been Stellar, Sunflower Bean, YHWH Nailgun, and Model/Actriz. This fall, the band will embark on a North American tour supporting Bass Drum of Death, followed by their European and UK debut headline tour.
Tour Dates
- 8/10 – New York, NY – Tompkins Square Park (CREEM Mag x Showbrain)
- 9/7 – Brooklyn, NY – TV Eye (TODO Records Showcase)
- 9/25 – New York, NY – Rough Trade NYC
- 10/3 – Boston, MA – Sonia #
- 10/4 – New York, NY – Baby’s All Right #
- 10/5 – Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry #
- 10/8 – Washington, D.C. – DC9 #
- 10/9 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall #
- 10/10 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall #
- 10/11 – Greenville, SC – Radio Room #
- 10/12 – Orlando, FL – The Social #
- 10/13 – Atlanta, GA – The Earl #
- 10/16 – Lyon, FR – Cafe Trokson
- 10/17 – Bordeaux, FR – Pulp Bar
- 10/18 – Les Roches-l’Eveque, FR – Zero Degree Est
- 10/20 – London, UK – The George Tavern
- 10/21 – Leeds, UK – Headrow House %
- 10/23 – Edinburgh, UK – Leith Arches
- 10/24 – Manchester, UK – Big Hands
- 10/25 – Sheffield, UK – Corporation
- 10/26 – Reading, UK – Purple Turtle Bar
- 10/28 – Paris, FR – Supersonic ^
- 10/29 – Kusel, DE – Kinett
- 10/30 – Ingolstadt, DE – Neue Welt
- 10/31 – Bern, CH – Cafe Kairo
- 11/22 – Austin, TX – Radio East (w/ Porcelain & Big Bill) #
# supporting Bass Drum of Death
% supporting No Joy
^ w/ Fuzz Lightyear
Follow Native Sun:
Photo Credit: Pooneh Ghana
Or via: