Restraining Order – “Misled”

I have waited for this day. In 2019, the Northeast band Restraining Order released their debut album This World Is Too Much, one of the greatest and most anthemic works of old-school fast hardcore that I’ve heard in recent years. That album is catchy and vicious and impeccably well-written, and I’ve had it in constant rotation ever since. A few months after it came out — and a few weeks before the pandemic shut everything down — I saw Restraining Order play an amazing house show in Richmond, at a place that’s since burned down, and that memory has stuck with me. I’ve seen Restraining Order a few times since, but nothing is beating that moment. Now, finally, Restraining Order are ready to follow that first album up.

Since the release of This World Is Too Much, Restraining Order have released a few things: a split with fellow fast-hardcore killers Warfare in 2021, a great one-off track called “Fight Back” last year. Next month, we’ll finally get a new Restraining Order full-length called Locked In Time. They’ve been recording the LP, in fits and starts, ever since 2019.

“Fight Back” is on the album, but the first proper single is called “Misled,” and it’s fucking awesome. It’s a 77-second mid-tempo stomper that makes me want to kick buildings over, and its Ben Clinton-directed video does a nice job capturing this band’s explosive energy. If this is what the rest of the album is like, then this thing is going to be such a beast. Here’s what singer Patrick Cozens says about the song:

I don’t have all the answers to why and how I act the way I do. It’s unexplainable. Many sleepless nights have been spent with nothing but curiosity for an answer. It’s something we all do, and it’s all right. You never stop learning about yourself. Every day, we find out something new, but at the same time can’t figure out why old habits continue.

Restraining Order just got done playing a few shows with Fucked Up, and they’ve got a busy schedule ahead. They’ll play some dates on Drain’s massive American tour with Drug Church, Magnitude, Gel. They’ll head off on a European Triple B tour with No Pressure, Sunami, Pain Of Truth, C4. They’ll do a weekend with Mindforce, Simulakra, and Scarab. They’ll play festivals like Outbreak, the Rumble, Sound And Fury, and the Fest. Below, check out the “Misled” video, the Locked In Time tracklist and the band’s upcoming dates.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Addicted (Reprise)”
02 “Left Unsaid”
03 “Inmates”
04 “Should’ve Known”
05 “Misled”
06 “Fight Back”
07 “Another Better Day”
08 “On The Run”
09 “Wouldn’t You Agree?”
10 “Locked In Time”
11 “Breakout”
12 “Painted World”

TOUR DATES:
6/12 – Columbia, SC @ New Brookland Tavern *
6/13 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade *
6/14 – Tampa, FL @ Brass Mug *
6/16 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live *
6/17 – Dallas, TX @ The Factory *
6/18 – Austin, TX @ Oblivion Access Festival
6/22 – London, UK @ Oslo-Hackney ^
6/23 – Manchester, UK @ Outbreak Festival
6/24 – Ysselstein, Netherlands @ Jera On Air Festival ^
6/25 – Hamburg, Germany @ Booze Cruise Festival
6/26 – Karlsruhe, Germany @ Stadtmitte ^
6/27 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Dynamo ^
6/28 – Padova, Italy @ Sherwood Festival
6/29 – Milan, Italy @ Legend Club ^
6/30 – Munich, Germany @ Feierwerk ^
7/01 – Nuremberg, Germany @ Desi ^
7/02 – Vienna, Austria @ Arena ^
7/03 – Budapest, Hungary @ Durer Kurt ^
7/04 – Warsaw, Poland @ Hydrozagadka ^
7/05 – Berlin, Germany @ Cassiopeia ^
7/06 – Erfurt, Germany @ Veb Kultur ^
7/07 – Dresden, Germany @ Chemiefrabrik ^
7/08 – Ypres, Belgium @ Ieperfest ^
7/21 – Chicago, IL @ The Rumble Festival
7/29-30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Sound and Fury Festival
8/06 – Wallingford, CT @ Cherry Street $
8/18 – Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar @
8/19 – Syracuse, NY @ Silver Street @
8/20 – Portland, ME @ The Cavern @

* with Drain, Drug Church, Magnitude, & Gel
^ with No Pressure, Sunami, Pain Of Truth, & C4
$ with Crown Court & Violent Way
@ with Mindforce, Simulakra, & Scarab

Locked In Time is out 7/21 on Triple B Records.