Three brothers from St. Joseph, Missouri broke into a university recording studio over summer break. The studio break-in happened almost by accident. "We were playing a show in Syracuse, and we ended up meeting a professor that taught Sound Recording and Technology," says Isaiah Radke. "He mentioned that they have a state of the art recording studio on campus… we ended up sneaking into the studio during the summer break and we made the album." With songs ready to go and a professor willing to look the other way, Radkey brought their latest album, Bedroom Sand, to life.
Brothers Dee, Isaiah, and Solomon Radke make up Radkey, the Kansas City punk trio whose name is really just a slight rearrangement of their own. Since their earliest jam sessions in a "tiny, hot, green, upstairs" room back in St. Joseph, they've built a reputation as a band that gets things done however they have to—a reputation Bedroom Sand only cements.
Having produced their last record, Green Room, the band rolled into Syracuse riding high on confidence—and unusually eager to throw their own rulebook out the window. Where they would normally enter the studio with every single bar strictly pre-mapped, Bedroom Sand became an experiment in post-production chaos.
"We always set out to challenge ourselves when we record an album," Isaiah says. "With this particular record, the challenge was experimenting in the studio with the arrangements and post production. It was a first for us and it was pretty challenging." "We came in ready to play around with some things... 'The Heartless' has our first crazy long solo, clocking in at a minute and seven seconds."
Musically, the eight-track release is a wonderfully uninhibited love letter to the power-chord royalty that shaped their youth. Think the raw crunch of Nevermind, the pop-punk velocity of Dookie, the heart-on-sleeve nerve of Pinkerton, and the heavy groove of Vitalogy.
"We wanted to make a nostalgic rock record," Isaiah shares. "Something loud, melodic and comforting at the same time. Like the kind of music that we grew up listening to and aspired to create."
Look past the wall of distortion, though, and you'll find a surprisingly wide net of sonic influences. Take “Falling Out of Grace,” which wraps an existential lyric about post-release burnout in the melodic DNA of classic power-pop:
"Our song 'Falling Out of Grace' was inspired by songs like Hüsker Dü’s 'Pink Turns to Blue' and Squeeze’s 'Up the Junction' and 'Slightly Drunk.' We wanted to make a nostalgic rock record. Something loud, melodic and comforting at the same time. Like the kind of music that we grew up listening to and aspired to create."
Elsewhere, the driving title track “Bedroom Sand” mixes a signature riff inspired by The Cars with direct nods to the manga One Piece, zeroing in on messy rooms, clogged sinks, and the terrifying fear of embarrassing your friends.
If you're looking for the record’s undisputed gut-punch, skip straight to “Victory.” Built as a high-octane homage to their hometown Kansas City Chiefs, it’s a track explicitly designed to level a room from the very first chord.
"When we were recording or going on tour, we'd always watch the Foo Fighters 'Back and Forth' documentary to get us pumped up," the band explains. "In that documentary, Dave [Grohl] mentions that he wanted to write an amazing set opener. So we've always wanted to write that ultimate opening song for our sets. We came up with the idea to do a song about the Kansas City Chiefs that's just about kicking ass and winning. It gets you in the perfect headspace for a show."
Isaiah makes no effort to hide his affection for the track:
"I gotta give it to 'Victory.' That song has been such a blast to record and especially play live. It’s something I’m looking forward to every time we start a live set. And I’m giddy just thinking about people spinning the record for the first time and being blasted with that song."
To drive the point home, the band dropped an accompanying video, mashing up early public-domain animation (Steamboat Willie) with their own twisted visuals.
At its heart, Bedroom Sand works because Radkey refuses to sanitize who they are. It’s an album that wears its nerd credentials as a badge of honor—weaving together explicit shout-outs to the RPG Pillars of Eternity, nods to Chicago alt-rockers Local H, references to the Pokémon anime, and “Strays,” a full-throated anthem dedicated to their rescue cats and fellow outsiders.
"We’re just three nerds on a quest to bring our style of rock to the world," says Isaiah. "We love watching anime, playing videogames and writing about the things that we love... Bedroom Sand captures the feel of everything that we love and we hope that it does the same for everyone that hears it."
For a band that has earned public co-signs from Jack White, Rise Against, and the Foo Fighters, Radkey’s core philosophy remains brilliantly straightforward: prove that guitar music hasn't lost its teeth.
"We hope that people listen to this record and feel that rock is still alive and fresh," Isaiah says. "That rock music can be all kinds of things. It can be hard, soft, fast, bouncy or all of these things at the same time. You can even dance to it. It’s all about freedom to do whatever you want."
And as for what's next? "We’re gonna hit the road and play the new record, make some music videos and get started on the next album!"
Bedroom Sand is out now on all major streaming platforms.
Photos by Sarah Jaben
