Lemongrab's "Another Kind of Freedom" Is the Raw Garage Punk Antitoxin We Need Right Now!

Lemongrab (originally from Canada, but now Berlin, Germany) is a garage punk 4-piece known for their raw, cathartic live shows and art punk-fuelled studio efforts. Their influences travel from The Stooges’ proto-punk shenanigans all the way to The Clean’s jangly earworms, taking scenic detours for Pylon’s weirdo pop hooks on their way to Bikini Kill’s riot-friendly neighborhood.

This week Friday, September 11th, the band will release their new record Another Kind of Freedom, via boutique imprints Mothland and Chrüsimüsi Records.

Another Kind of Freedom is a cranky yet uplifting patchwork of songs, each track willy-nelly pulling its corner of the blanket, yet harmoniously sharing that same cover of punk sensibilities and politics. Over a crisp 12m41s, these four stylistically diverse songs eloquently question belief systems, leading to, both hollered existential angst and witty social commentary.

While "Pay to Play” peevishly highlights the music industry’s lack of interest in providing liveable wages for the artists it depends on, krautrock-flavoured “Necessary Condition” denounces tendencies to distract ourselves with superficial non-sense when the world starts crumbling around us. Yoko cleverly decenters the male ego as the measure of experience with tongue-in-cheek lyrics and Delta 5-reminiscent grooves. Finally, “No Receipt” sees Lemongrab employ a hybrid country-punk formula, poking fun at the hardships of navigating a romantic partnership and sardonically revealing that the notion of a couple as we know it is yet another capitalist trap.

Gaëlle & Léonie comment: "Another Kind of Freedom is a small collection of 4 songs that each explore a slightly different pearl from the same necklace. The EP is less polished than our previous LP, I Spy with My Little Eye. It’s a return to our lo-fi sound, but it’s a little more controlled in the exploration of sounds we sought after. It’s ironic, existential punk. We recorded the EP in Leipzig, Berlin’s little punkier sister, with our friend Leo (Marchand). We had also recorded our previous LP with him, but in Berlin. Leo is a really creative musician, so this time we decided to spend a few days out of town at his studio, taking the time to add weird overdubs, find beautifully scratchy vocal effects, and—of course—play around with guitar sounds. Since there were only 4 songs to record, it felt like they could each have their own mood and be informed by a different stylistic influence.

We did the album artwork together, using scraps and bits and drawings we collected over the years. We felt it mirrored this disparate collection of songs, but also its DIY ethos. The back of the vinyl shows an old pizza box from this Italian restaurant next to the Landwehrkanal in Berlin, where everyone hangs out during summer. It’s such a good time whenever we go. Pizza and wine are cheap there, plus they let you stick around and make you feel at home."

Another Kind of Freedom - recorded and mixed by Leo Marchand at Of Bits & Pieces in Leipzig, DE - can be hard to pin down. Its songs are highly eclectic, but the band’s signature lo-fi garage punk æsthetics push through, making this 4-title collection consistent with previous studio efforts, all the while exploring new sonic textures for a plethora of maniacally fun twists and turns. Lemongrab’s new record drops on September 11th, 2026 via Mothland (CA) and Chrüsimüsi Records (CH).

Lemongrab Another Kind of Freedom can be ordered right here: https://lemon-grab.bandcamp.com/album/another-kind-of-freedom

Tracklist

1. Pay to Play

2. Necessary Condition

3. Yoko

4. No Receipt