"For years, Angel Du$t was Justice Tripp's balmy reprieve from Trapped Under Ice. When he fronted the Baltimore hardcore band, he cursed out ice queens and swore he'd " stay cold forevermore" to protect his heart. These tormented songs were molded by the trauma and violence that Tripp endured during his hardscrabble upbringing. Angel Du$t's 2014 debut, A.D., with its pink cover art and perky pop-punk sound, showed that he was learning to leave the past behind and warm up a bit."
"On Angel Du$t's sixth album, COLD 2 THE TOUCH, he revisits some of the darker subjects from his early work across a set of songs that are heavier, wearier, more pissed-off than 2023's Brand New Soul. He begs for his "freezing" body to be held tight ("Jesus Head"), laments that his internal permafrost remains unmeltable ("Zero"), and pays a visit to "the place where dreams go to die" ("The Knife") to exact revenge upon... someone."
Justice Tripp used Angel Du$t as a warmer counterpoint to his work in Trapped Under Ice. Early Angel Du$t songs emerged from trauma and violence of Tripp's hardscrabble upbringing, then shifted toward perky pop-punk on 2014's A.D. Subsequent records softened further, embracing romance and rock'n'roll. On COLD 2 THE TOUCH Tripp revisits darker subjects with heavier, wearier songs that express longing, frozen emotional states, and self-directed vengeance. The music settles into vibey psych-rock while retaining punk elements, producing a brisk antagonism and a stronger balance between no-frills punk and experimental textures.
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