Radical Dads "Don't Go" Is, Obviously, Radical

After last year’s melodical four-anthem teaser Cassette Brain, Brooklyn’s DIY flag-waving indie rock juggernaut Radical Dads are back with pop-hooks ablaze. The trio—ex-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah drummer/singer Robbie Guertin and guitarist/vocalist double threat Lindsay Baker and Chris Diken—have assumed their rightful place on the about-to-blow-up Old Flame Records, joining its hydrant of catchy-as-heck basement-punkers like Shark?, Potty Mouth, and Mean Creek.

Rad Dads’ Universal Coolers is indeed hot stuff, bleeding a sun-drenched, yet no-nonsense, melody-spiked beast that is as breezy in its contagious intensity as label-mates Shark’s “Big Summer (Summer Ale),” the Potty Mouth gals’ Hell Bent and MC’s Local Losers. Plus—and this is a big effin’ deal—Universal Coolers features amazing artwork from none other than ace econo painter Steve Keene, the dude responsible for monumental Pavement covers like Wowee Zowee.

The wait for Universal Coolers will be gut wrenching (it doesn’t drop until 2/24) but for now you can revel in the Dads’ sweet ‘n’ jagged infection of “Don’t Go.”