With her next paycheck, Lola Rothstein is getting a tattoo — the black-and-white eye at the center of the Angel Du$t album cover for 2023’s “Brand New Soul.”
“I’m trying to get that on the back of my calf,” the 22-year-old from Columbia said, rolling up the pant of her jeans. “I love their music. I discovered them early in high school and just loved their energy right off the bat.”
Rothstein was one of the nearly 100 devoted Angel Du$t fans lined up outside of Celebrated Summer Records on a gray Thursday last month, all waiting to meet the Baltimore rock band and get copies of their latest album, February’s “Cold 2 the Touch,” signed inside the Hampden record store.
The event’s turnout and celebratory mood reflected Angel Du$t’s status as one of the city’s most revered music acts today. Six albums in, frontman and songwriter Justice Tripp — the one constant in the group’s 13-year evolution — is getting his due as a leader of modern hard rock and its boundaryless mixing of hardcore and punk. The rawer, more aggressive subgenres are more influential than ever on mainstream music, which delights Tripp.
“Having somebody like Justice come along and really open it up — that all these other influences can come into it and giving other people an opportunity to feel that they don’t have to be in this narrow alley in this world — is wonderful,” said Tony Pence, owner of Celebrated Summer Records.
National outlets are recognizing Tripp’s influence as well, with glowing write-ups from Rolling Stone and Stereogum; the latter declared Angel Du$t “one of the best rock bands in the world.”
“You create a musical voice because you want something you have to say to be heard,” said Tripp, an Essex native who also leads the veteran hardcore band Trapped Under Ice. “It seems like that’s happening, so that’s all I could hope for.”
The new album’s title track captures Angel Du$t’s deft skill at seamlessly blending sounds, with a frenetic punk pace set by new drummer Nick Lewis and trademark elements of hardcore, like the dramatic, slow breakdown that arrives midway — a perfect moment to mosh and spin-kick in a crowd.
Tripp ties it all together, forcefully calling out bands with “no heartbeat”: “The sound is uninspired / In the mirror, the reflection of a man with nothing left inside,” he quickly sings before background shouts of “Cold! To! The touch!” punctuate the sticky chorus.
In the album’s 26 minutes, Angel Du$t — which also includes bassist Zechariah Ghosttribe and guitarists Steve Marino and Jim Carroll — balances hard-hitting standouts like “Pain Is a Must” and “Zero” with quieter moments of introspection and experimental detours, such as the foot-stomping funk ending of “Du$t.”
The record’s addictive combination of driving distorted guitars, pounding rhythm section and Tripp’s earworm verses and hooks has earned positive reviews from stalwart rock magazine Kerrang! and Pitchfork.
Troy Taylor, 26, of Baltimore, said the band has a sound that’s uniquely their own, which can lead to unforgettable moments in concert, like stage-diving during a song that “was so slow and so chill.”
“People were flying off the stage. I was like, ‘Oh, this is something else,’” Taylor said, smiling.
Brian McTernan, who produced “Cold 2 the Touch” at his Salad Days Studio in Mount Washington, took the job before hearing a single note — a sign of how much he respects Tripp, he said.
“This is one of the best music cities in the world, and I think he’s a huge part of that,” McTernan said.
McTernan, who also sang in the D.C. hardcore band Battery, said Tripp’s refusal to be boxed into clear-cut genres has inspired so many musicians in the region. That artistic freedom means more than any single sonic influence.
“I just feel like he has introduced in our city this almost license to be whoever the f— you want with your music,” he said.
Tripp can feel his status as an elder statesman in hardcore but isn’t interested in centering himself in the conversation.
“That’s the beauty of hardcore. It’s not about an individual,” he said. “We’ve always been pushing this thing along, and it’s greater than any one or any few of us.”
Now living in Parkville after jaunts in cities like Atlanta and Los Angeles, he’s thrilled to see the music scene here earning the plaudits and attention it deserves, particularly the flourishing hardcore scene and the meteoric rise of Turnstile. (Turnstile’s Brendan Yates, Pat McCrory and Daniel Fang are former members of Angel Du$t and left the band amicably years ago to focus on Turnstile.)
Tripp pointed to Turnstile’s free Wyman Park Dell concert in 2025 as an eye-opening moment. To see his friends bring together thousands by playing this style of uncompromising music “gave me this sense of hope for my city and what it could be,” Tripp said.
After the record store event, Angel Du$t gave back to the city in their own way, with a free sold-out concert at Baltimore Soundstage to kick off their 30-date national tour. Tickets were snapped up within hours of release. (The band plays Houston on Friday night.)
Overlooking the mosh pits in the Soundstage crowd, Tripp celebrated “Baltimore City hardcore,” name-checking bands of all sizes, like Erode, End It and Turnstile, and acknowledging their contributions to the city’s moment in the spotlight.
Tripp, who turned 40 this month, said hardcore is all he knows. “It’s all I’ve ever invested in and the only thing I feel like I’ve ever done right.”
For years, he had a hunch this beautifully abrasive music would have a positive effect on Baltimore. Today, he’s seeing those seeds sprout in beautiful ways. Tripp hopes others realize, whether they enjoy Angel Du$t’s brand of idiosyncratic rock music or not, that they have a voice, too.
“If you’re feeling hopeless, there is something you can do,” he said. “That’s the most powerful tool that I’ve ever been given: It’s just the knowledge that I can have impact, and I think everybody can.”
