EP REVIEW: Teenage Bottlerocket – The Invisible Man (Pirates Press Records)
Wyoming pop-punk veterans Teenage Bottlerocket are kicking off 2026 with the release of a new four-song EP, The Invisible Man, on Pirates Press Records.
The tracks songs were recorded during the sessions for the band’s latest album, 2025’s Ready To Roll (reviewed here).
Each of the band’s three songwriters are represented; it kicks off with the mid-paced title track, penned by bassist Miguel Chen, who uses cinematic imagery to express his desire to disappear from the chaos of the modern world.
He sings: “I wanna be the invisible man and get away as far as I can/I’m losing faith in humanity, I wish that they’d just let me be”. I think we all know the feeling…
Guitarist Ray Carlisle’s You Made Me Get Called A Poser is inspired by a real-life family story. “My kid wore a Less Than Jake shirt to school and some substitute teacher asked him to name a song,” he explains. “My kid came home all bummed out and said ‘you made me get called a poser.’”
Carlisle also wrote the pacy closer City At Night, which was originally released on an ultra-limited 7in included with the deluxe edition of Ready To Roll, and later released as a digital single. For most fans, this will be the first chance to own a physical copy.
Finally, guitarist Kody Templeman contributes my favourite track, the Offspring-like Pembry’s Face, another song inspired by the band’s love of horror fiction. “I’ve always been a big fan of the Hannibal Lecter movies based on the Thomas Harris novels,” he says. “Ray and I always quoted the Jim Pembry line during the escape scene [in The Silence of the Lambs].”
- The Invisible Man by Teenage Bottlerocket is available from the Pirates Press Records webstore HERE on three 7in vinyl variants – bone, violet and black. A magenta version will also be available exclusively from the band’s merch table on tour.
