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. In 2024, the guys opted to reunite with producer Brett Romnes at “The Barbershop” studio in New Jersey. Musically, they nodded to inspirations as diverse as Hum and Failure as well as Type O Negative, Quicksand, and Unwritten Law. Pushing boundaries, they incorporated different time signatures and coated the soundscape with a thick dose of nineties fuzz. “We returned to the Barbershop with a renewed and rejuvenated appreciation for it,” says Eric. “Getting back in with Brett, it was the perfect meeting of the minds. We all stepped up our game. Musically, we tried things we’ve never done before. We understand what being in Heart Attack Man means and how all of this operates. We upped the energy overall too. We just keep figuring out how to make our band better each year.” The group’s mastery of dynamics shines on the single “Laughing Without Smiling.” Creaky acoustic guitar slips into the undertow of a power chord-driven chorus, “And I see you going through the motions of your life and it looks a lot like laughing without smiling.” “I wanted to write a song around a big badass rock riff,” he recalls. “It discusses what it looks like when people lose their drive and just start treading water. I always want to ask, ‘Why are you doing this if you’re miserable?’ So, the visual of a person ‘Laughing Without Smiling’ is uncomfortable, unnatural, and weird. There’s no passion, and we all know somebody like this. The song’s a wakeup call. Why are you going through the motions looking dead in the face and ready to give up? You’re alive, but you’re not actually living life.” The trudging stomp of “Spit” opens with a self-effacing request, “Kill me and replace me with a hologram. No one will ever know the difference, much less even give a damn.” Eric’s scream takes hold on the hook, “The world you’re living in will soon be faded into memory. Spit in the face of humanity,” dissolving into an uneasy guitar lead. “It gets into A.I.,” he reveals. “What does A.I. mean for the creative process? Is it the end of human creativity? ‘Spit’ is a tongue-in-cheek sarcastic confrontation. I don’t like the idea of everyone relying on robots more and more. It’s my snarky pushback.” The alternately rumbling and swaggering groove of “The Gallows” mirrors the shit-eating grin of Eric’s delivery, “Happy graduation from the gallows! You made it.” “‘The Gallows’ is all about making it through a particular moment, seeing the light, and overcoming the feelings of wanting to be dead or someone else,” he admits. “Metaphorically, you step down from the edge of the gallows. It’s a coming-of-age song. Everybody grows up, and it does get better. There is a light at some point.” The trip concludes with the title track. His sunny refrain belies the heavy subject matter as a morbidly sweet refrain shines, “Joyride the pale horse, I’ve got a secret handshake with Elvis.” “It encapsulates the album,” he remarks. “In a way, it’s the most abstract tune. ‘Joyriding the pale horse’ sounds biblical. I’m making all of these different allusions to death, but I’m not referencing it outright.” In the end, Heart Attack Man sound as alive as ever. “When it comes to this band, it feels like everything we’ve done prepared us for this moment,” he leaves off. “We know what we want to do and who we are. We don’t want to know what life looks like without playing music.”