Most of us fear death, while a small number of us pay no mind to it. Nevertheless, none of us will outrun it. In this respect, it unites us. Exploring our existential fate, Heart Attack Man ponder not just death, but life in between the crunch of palm-muted pop-punk guitar chords and snappy hooks you just can’t shake. As such, the Cleveland, OH trio—Eric Egan [vocals, guitar], Adam Paduch [drums], and Ty Sickels [guitar]—stare down fate with an ear-to-ear smile on their fourth full-length LP, Joyride the Pale Horse [Many Hats Distribution]. “No matter what differences we have, everybody dies,” Eric affirms. “For the album, I wanted to approach the process differently and be more poetic in terms of the subject matter. I was riffing on our acute awareness of mortality. However, the sentiment isn’t, ‘I want to die’ or ‘Everyone I know is dead, and I’m so sad’. It’s more complicated. Getting older, you start grappling with the feelings associated with death and how to contemplate life itself. We’re painting a picture of how complex and nuanced our feelings about death can be.” Since emerging in 2014, Heart Attack Man have consistently sharpened their signature style to knife-point precision with clever lyrics as incisive as their airtight songcraft. This sound naturally progressed across Acid Rain EP [2014], The Manson Family [2017], Fake Blood [2019], Thoughts & Prayerz EP [2021], and Freak of Nature [2023]. Of the latter, Cleveland Magazine urged, “expect to find the high-energy, simmering pop-punk stylings that the band has established in the past few years — just, with more input and new flair.” Brooklyn Vegan christened them “a rare band who feel catchy enough for arenas and punk enough for basements all at once,” and OnesToWatch applauded their “enigmatic instrumentation and cutting lyrics.” Along the way, ceaseless touring shored up a devout audience behind them, and they amassed millions of streams.