Pool Kids – Easier Said Than Done

Since we last heard from Pool Kids, the Florida based quartet had just released their sprawling sophomore album in 2022. Followed by an EP in 2023 (split with their hardcore alter egos POOL), today they return with the announcement of their new album Easier Said Than Done out on August 15th via a new label home, Epitaph Records.

The band share the album’s title track, flickering with anxiety and then crashing into catharsis as frontperson Christine Goodwyne screams through her inability to let go of her preoccupations.

“OCD can just rob your life of joy,” she says. “Things can be going so well, and then it just sucks any enjoyment out of it.”  Cast in moody black and white, the music video depicts performance shots of each member as they are engulfed in shadows.

Powerful collectivity rings through Pool Kids’ third album Easier Said Than Done — in the dynamic interplay between Goodwyne and Andy Anaya’s guitars, in Nicolette Alvarez’s gravitationally binding basslines, in Caden Clinton’s nimble, whirling drum patterns. They lock together into a unified force, each leaning on the other, propelling themselves forward into hard-won release. With its irrepressible communal energy, Easier Said Than Done impresses one of the most important reminders anyone can hear: You don’t have to do anything in this world alone.

Pool Kids returned to Seattle to work with Mike Vernon Davis (Foxing, Great Grandpa), who produced their self-titled. The band funded the studio sessions with money they’d saved from years of steady touring, eager to explore the freedom that comes with making a record independently. They spent five weeks together in the summer of 2024, staying with friends, at motels, and in the studio itself to save money. They recorded late into the night, driving to the edge of the city to shower at a Planet Fitness once they’d wrapped for the day.

Working from the trust they’d built during their earlier studio sessions, the band focused on pushing the record to its fullest emotive potential with Davis encouraging them to experiment with new recording strategies. Songs evolved through multiple iterations, assuming different genres as they went, from synth pop to slacker rock and back again, or from gentle acoustic balladry to driving anthemic rock.  “We tried out new ideas on the fly, wrote and reworked songs, keys, chord progressions, and runs together,” says Alvarez. “We looked at everything as a collective through an even more powerful microscope than before.” Piece by piece and day by day, the record started to take shape. “We dove into these rabbit holes trying to figure out the right sound for each note,” says Anaya. “It was a deeply exploratory process once we hit record.”

While writing, Goodwyne challenged herself to focus on the present moment and only use lyrics she had recently penned, rather than looking back through old notes for starting points. “There’s a lot of Florida imagery and a lot of really specific glimpses from tour on this album,” she says.  “By letting myself get specific, I feel a lot more emotionally connected to the songs. It’s a very personal record for me and for the whole band, too. I was writing about what life has been like for all of us over the last few years. I feel like all of us can relate to a lot of the songs.”

Pool Kids On Tour
w/ Truth Club & Pony
Sept. 19 – Nashville, TN – The Basement

Sept. 20 – Durham, NC – Motorco Music Hall

Sept. 21 – Asbury Park, NJ – House of Independents

Sept. 23 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom

Sept. 25 – Philadelphia, PA – Ukie Club on Franklin

Sept. 26 – Somerville, MA – Crystal Ballroom

Sept. 27 – Montreal, QC – Bar le Ritz PDB

Sept. 28 – Toronto, ON – The Baby G

Sept. 30 – Hamtramck, MI – Sanctuary Detroit

Oct. 01 – Pittsburgh, PA – Thunderbird Café

Oct. 02 – Columbus, OH – A&R Music Bar

Oct. 03 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall

Oct. 04 – St. Paul, MN – Amsterdam Bar & Hall

Oct. 06 – Denver, CO – Marquis Theater

Oct. 08 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court

Oct. 10 – Seattle, WA – Madame Lou’s

Oct. 11 – Vancouver, BC – Fox Cabaret

Oct. 12 – Portland, OR – Polaris Hall

Oct. 14 – San Francisco, CA – Rickshaw Stop

Oct. 16 – San Diego, CA – Soda Bar
      
Oct. 17 – Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room

Oct.18 – Phoenix, AZ – Last Exit Live

Oct. 20 – Denton, TX – Rubber Gloves

Oct. 21 – Austin, TX – 29th Street Ballroom

Oct. 23 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade (purgatory)

Oct. 25 – Gainesville, FL – FEST 25 *

Nov. 6 – Miami, FL – Gramps *

Nov. 8 – Nov. 13 – Coheed and Cambria’s S.S. Neverender

*Pool Kids only

#poolkidsband