Coup D'état
British Columbia, Canada screamo act Coup D'état debut their new single “The Cost of Playing It Cool”. The track embarks on a new direction sonically for the band breaking new grounds and shaped by many influences as the band calls the upcoming EP Lakeside Amusement Park “a sendup of Converge, Propagandhi and Majority Rule”. “The Cost of Playing It Cool” serves as a declaration to end the cycle of abuse that often becomes generational and resonates too close to home for too many of us. “The EP as a whole is about abuse, breaking the generational cycles of trauma that we place onto our children as well as the ways we push our loved ones away for the sake 'feigning safety'". Their bassist Raine concurs that overall, the EP is about abandoning violence.
Is this the extent
of possibilities?
I’ve found the threshold,
walls closing in on me.
Freeze, cover your head, and fall to the floor!
Dictate desire, I don't want to be free anymore
Sacrifice morality, what's the cost of playing it cool?
(Safety in meager measures, feigned indifference)
a wolf like me has no place among the flock
unthinking and untouchable,
(Impart patterns to the harsh air)
We deny ourselves humanity.
(fold under the pressure)
Hundreds of batons
(draw lines in the sand)
Beat out of time
A cacophony (gears without teeth)
spelling out the words:
“I had no choice.
(Steadfast and without hesitation.)
My mind is an engine
(Violent without conflict or friction)
that reproduces borders.
On further discussion of what themes may be present throughout their upcoming EP, the band are set to go down the rabbit hole of emotional recovery and aim to make it crystal clear that politics are essential to their music and their message and that complacency will not be tolerated from them.
“FIX YOUR HEARTS OR DIE. STOP TRYING TO BE A CIRCLE IN A SQUARE HOLE, SACRIFICING YOUR MORALS TO BE ‘SECURE’ AND HAVING A PASSIVE COMPLIANCY TO THE GENOCIDE AGAINST PALESTINIANS.”
- FREYA INTERNICOLA, @COUPDETATBC
For this one the band has headed up island to record with their friends at Calmstock Records. “Griffin mainly engineered drums and Kyle was the guitar + bass wizkid. We spent day one just recording rhythm. Day two was spent doing guitars and vocals. Griffin and I have been mixing and mastering this ourselves using gear at Griffin's house.” their guitarist/vocalist Freyja tells us of the process in studio.
So where’s the band heading to in moving towards the new year coming? Strategically avoiding burnout while also making big goals and aspirations (a balance we all strive to master). Moving into 2026 we see the bands planned to have a release show at Grey Lab in Vancouver April 26th, and they are playing the Emma Goldman release show May 9th at the Red Gate as well. “We are going to slow down the grind before it kills us, but in the long term making ferocious, emotional songs and eventually a second LP. In 2026 we will hopefully be doing a small tour in our home province of BC and maybe even Alberta.”
Not Just A Phase is always allowing an open mic policy for bands to speak their truth on our platforms as you all know by now so when we had asked the band for ‘any closing words’ we got the message loud and clear. “Protect trans youth ferociously, Free Palenstine, fuck ICE, fuck screamo, and fuck screamo elitists who try to put bands in boxes and say where a band belongs. Your community is where the heart is support that above a genre description keep your scene safe and free from creeps.” And I couldn’t have said it any better myself except that I’ll definitely still continue to ‘box bands’ into meaningless little subgenres like the elitist prick that I am but hell yeah I agree with all the rest of their important statements and am always looking forward to seeing this bands progression and next move.
Abuse repression is Lucas on vocals/samples, Destin on drums, Quinn on guitar, and Micah on bass/vocals.
Follow them on bandcamp here : Abuse Repression
Writer : @garevthistle
Editor : @just_reidz
10/08/25
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