Recently we checked out the new single and video for “Dead On The Inside “ from Don’t Sleep .

You can listen to “Dead On The Inside” on Spotify Here and on Apple Music Here and you can check out the video below

If you are a fan of hardcore and melodic punk , then Don’t Sleep is like hitting the punk rock lottery . Don’t Sleep ( Dave Smalley (DAG NASTY, ALL, DOWN BY LAW, DYS) on vocals, bassist Garrett Rothman (Junction), drummer Jim Bedorf, and guitarists Tom McGrath (Very Americans) and Tony Bavaria (The Commercials, Very Americans)

We are loving this one Big Time . Don’t Sleep are preparing to release their sophomore album, ‘See Change.’ The 9-track LP was co-produced by the GRAMMY-nominated team of Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland (August Burns Red, Silverstein) and will be out on June 2 via End Hits Records.

Of the track, Smalley says, “I have had a recurring dream, both in sleep and awake, where I am a hawk or other bird, flying and looking down on the fields and streams and gliding on the wind. A continuation of that has been one where I am soaring through space like the Silver Surfer, passing stars and comets and nebulas. That feeling of freedom, of being away from the problems of life. Wouldn’t that be great? I sort of incorporated that vision into this song, and the idea of gliding on the wind or through space, contrasted with the reality of day to day struggles that make us feel dead on the inside, sometimes — that juxtaposition of light and dark, of elation and despair, that makes us all human beings. A beautiful sadness, as one friend puts it.

To the old school guys, that connection between hardcore and punk and skateboarding was so clear, like lightning in a dark sky. Music and skating were true freedom and independence. Both were risk-taking and about not being afraid to fall. No one would ever make fun of you if you ate it or sucked, because at least you were trying to express yourself, and express your soul. They were symbiotically connected — it was perfect. It still is perfect. Seeing these skaters in this video is pure. It’s real. It Is. Seeing it makes you soar.”

If your a fan of punk rock, you definitely are familiar with Dave Smalley . From being right in the middle at the birth of US hardcore punk with DYS to creating the blueprint of melodic hardcore with DAG NASTY, from helping to invent pop punk as we know it with ALL to finding himself in the middle of the west coast punk explosion of the 90s with DOWN BY LAW: Smalley was always on the forefront every time hardcore punk stretched its envelope.

Don’t Sleep is melodic hardcore punk at it’s absolute best and “Dead On The Inside “ is an absolute gem .