Rocket Announce Debut Album, Hear: “Wide Awake”

Burgeoning LA quartet Rocket has shared the news of their long-awaited debut album, R is for Rocket, coming this fall. Alongside the announcement comes the thick, dissonant rocker “Wide Awake,” the third single off the LP, following up “One Million” and “Crossing Fingers.”

Rocket went straight to work following their breakout EP, 2023’s Versions of You (one of Paste’s favorite EPs of that year). Spending 2024 touring with the likes of bar italia and Silversun Pickups gave the group, and the tracklist, a chance to breathe and evolve, growing from constant road testing into an increasingly locked-in group dynamic. Guitarist Desi Scaglione, who also doubles as the group’s producer, says the tour helped them elevate the Sonic Youth-meets-pop sounds of their EP: “Recording the second half of the album eight months after the first half gave us a lot of time to think about what we were doing. We ended up re-recording three songs because we felt like we could just do better.”

“Wide Awake” is a perfect representation of R is for Rocket, capturing that live recording sound the group was chasing in their sessions. Brooding, double-tracked drums give the song a car chase cadence, while Alithea Tuttle’s airy vocals and hypnotic melody mix with sharp, bending guitars. The track eventually unravels into a muddy, warping instrumental, with a piercing guitar solo that meanders before seamlessly feeding right back into the main theme.