PRE-ORDERS OPEN: Steel City Sunset

It's hard to believe it's been over five years since our last original release.

Back in 2020, we decided it would be a fun idea to release a new song every week for an entire year. Somehow, we actually pulled it off. Fifty-two songs later, we figured we'd take a little break.

That break lasted longer than expected, lol.

Frank Muffin never really went away, though. We kept playing shows, welcomed new bandmates, added 3 more states to our show history, and eventually started putting together what became Steel City Sunset.

The title comes from a familiar image from Hans's childhood: the US Steel Gary Works plant along Lake Michigan. Giant steel mills, smokestacks, and industrial grit sitting against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset over the lake. That juxtaposition stuck with him growing up, and in a lot of ways it found its way into these songs too.

Musically, this is still a Frank Muffin record. Power pop and Alternative at its core. But we also couldn't resist borrowing inspiration from Philly Soul and Muscle Shoals records. Because those records are rad.

Having Patrick Barry Brown in the band meant we could go beyond talking about strings and horns and actually make them happen. His arrangements added a whole new layer to these songs while still keeping the heart of what we do intact.

Steel City Sunset is also the first Frank Muffin release to feature Brad Pendleton on drums. Since joining the band in 2021 during our mini-tour of Central New York, Brad has brought a rock-solid groove to everything we do. These recordings were built on the foundation he laid down behind the kit.

We're especially proud of how this record sounds. Brittany engineered the sessions, mixing/mastering guru Ronan Chris Murphy (King Crimson, Aurora, GWAR, Ulver, Mafia  III)

knocked out the rest (right outta the park!), and a whole crew of talented musicians helped bring these songs to life. Huge thanks to Atlys for the string performances, and Dave Beering, Ed Johnson, and Michael Plake for the horns.

Many thanks also to Brad Harner who contributed auxiliary percussion, helping us find exactly the right textures and accents for each song. That sounds much more professional than "we spent an afternoon seeing what happened when we hit, shook, scraped, and rattled things.” Which, honestly, is a pretty good description of being in this band.

Final special thanks as well to Charles E. Miller for licensing a stunning photograph for our album art. We can't imagine a more stellar image to fit this record, nor a kinder soul to share this with. Buy the vinyl to appreciate the entire photo :)

You can pre-order Steel City Sunset now on Bandcamp. The EP officially releases on 7 August 2026 as a digital download and on colored 12" vinyl. Tracks will also begin rolling out to streaming services one-at-a-time in late July. We can't wait for you to hear this!

--Frank Muffin