Animals In Exile has today released their eponymous album via Needlepoint Records. Many fellow GenXrs will remember what MTV actually was before it is what it is now, and, if you read this far, you may also remember that show ‘120 Minutes’. The show for the cool kids that everyone else admired, well, after adulthood kicked in. The music that defined the later decades before it was acceptable to listen to in public, while everyone else was following Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe.
Animals In Exile is the band that should’ve been back then and will forever be in the now. That slacker rock juggernaut that defines your next favorite music while effortlessly counting you as a new fan.
The new album is everything you expect, in a good way. Nine tracks of anthems outside of the box, looking in and wondering why you’re in that conformative box. Letting them in and letting it all go is what this album is, to me. Finding the corrosion in the edges around that conformity that tells you what to like and makes you afraid to show your originality lest the ‘others’ find out and mock you. This is your freedom papers. Your emancipation from the mainstream that tells you that you can dress, look, and even smell how you want. This is what you secretly want. You want to be one of those animals in exile.
And, if you didn’t buy a copy of this album, then, fuck you. Independent artists need money to make shit at this level.
About Animals In Exile
Animals In Exile isn’t just a name—it’s a mantra for reinvention, resilience, and sonic exploration. It’s fitting that the band is based in Denver, Colorado, a city enshrined amongst primal nature, carved into the wild of the encroaching mountains, just as the band itself cuts a passageway through neo-psychedelic rock, garage grit, indie edge, stoner fuzz, and dreamy shoegaze to reach a destination unmistakably its own. With poetic lyrics that delve into the absurd, the existential, the surreal, and the everyday, Animals In Exile craft music that is both intellectually rich and emotionally resonant.
The band officially solidified in 2025, but its roots stretch back to 2015 when songwriter Redding Bacon began shaping his vision in the solitude of his basement. Inspired by everything from 00s DJ culture and Indian sitar drones, to Velvet Underground textures, and 70s African psych rock mutations, Redding’s solo project slowly evolved into something bigger. In 2025, the stars aligned: Redding joined forces with longtime friend and bassist Colby Rogers, guitarist Jim McTurnan, and drummer Eric Marshall. Each member brings not only musical definition, but rich stories of personal survival and artistic redemption—Jim continues to defy the odds while living with both Multiple Sclerosis and Stiff Person Syndrome; Colby retains his musical prowess after a life-threatening injury left his right hand with no feeling; and Eric, once on the verge of abandoning music entirely, has a rejuvenated lust and vitality behind the kit.
Individually, the band’s members have dabbled around the deep end of the indie rock pool, and can tout, collectively: shared billing with the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs, Phoenix, Flaming Lips, Black Angels, Blonde Redhead, and others; multiple tours; Top 200 releases at radio; a KEXP song of the day; on-air radio and TV performances; film placements; and press exposure in Under The Radar, Magnet, NME, etc. However, the past is the past, and the future is now.
The band’s self-titled debut album, Animals In Exile, arrives August 8, 2025, via Needlepoint Records, preceded by the punchy single “Let’s Go!” dropping June 27. This new release leans deeper into overdriven tube amp growl, creating a fiery, tactile sound that sets it apart from Redding’s previous recordings. It’s a record that doesn’t revisit psych rock—it repurposes it.
Described by 303 Magazine as a “…soundtrack for the soul – dark, inspirational, and beautifully cinematic.” The band has also earned praise from Queen City Sounds and Art, Janglepophub, Tonic Grain, and Austin Town Hall, and has been featured on a broad swath of playlists and webcasts. Animals In Exile has become a road trip essential, a thinking person’s psych band, and a spiritual successor to acts like Brian Jonestown Massacre, Velvet Underground, Dead Meadow, Flaming Lips, and Thee Oh Sees.
Settle in for a voyage that’s at once cerebral, cathartic, and emphatically alive.
LINKS:
https://www.animalsinexile.com/
https://www.facebook.com/animalsinexile
https://animalsinexile.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/animalsinexile
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFXp_8-jEuHlxrXH7SmDxbw