Halogens, one of New Jersey’s very best unsigned pop-punk/emo bands, will finally release their long-awaited new music in 2019. The new EP Happy Hour is due out on February 22. You can listen to “O’Gorman” below, exclusively on Substream.

I have believed in few bands like I believe in Halogens. In 2015, I released their self-titled EP on cassette via my tiny, local, (now-defunct) record label. It was the first release in Why Bother Records history to break even. I saw Halogens play those songs countless times in Jersey over the past two years, in tiny rooms and basements where barely one-hundred people could squeeze in if they tried, and I saw those hundred people sweat, dance, and shout along each night, huge smiles on their faces. The shows were never huge, and the stakes were never too high, but that energy is a special thing. You might have seen it in your own local music scene, with your own favorite local bands. It’s that energy that attracts you to a local music community, makes you want to be a part of it, convinces you to work harder on that little record label you’ve been trying to get off the ground because you’re on the cusp of something greater and you’ll get there if you keep at it. There’s nothing quite like it.

This is all to say that Halogens are an important band to me and my friends, and their new songs are coming very soon. I have spent the better part of the past year or so listening to Happy Hour, and “O’Gorman” is the perfect slice—it’s a bouncy emo tune that riffs off feelings of personal insecurity, and features a hook that will be stuck in your head for the next week.

You can listen to “O’Gorman” and learn all about Happy Hour below. You can pre-order Happy Hour alongside some cool merch items here, and follow Halogens on Twitter, Instagram, and Bandcamp for future updates. You can also go to local shows and support the musicians in your area who are trying their hardest to make something special, simply because it is a good thing to do.

Happy Hour artwork and tracklisting: