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Kerosene Heights weather heartbreak, upheaval, and emotional aftershocks on Blame It On The Weather, a chaotic and cathartic second album that finds the North Carolina band tighter, louder, and more alive than ever.

For Asheville's Kerosene Heights, change has become a fact of life. Their second album, Blame It On The Weather, captures the chaos, uncertainty, and beauty that come with it, channeling the emotional wreckage of Hurricane Helene and the turbulence of young adulthood into a sharp and unflinching set of songs.

The 12-track record was shaped in the aftermath of the storm that tore through their home state of North Carolina. But what started as scattered reflections on natural disasters quickly became something bigger. “There’s a lot of things based on transition and change,” says vocalist and guitarist Chance Smith. “The weather has been an omnipresent thing in our lives with the hurricane, and it fit the mood and the throughline of the record.” Don't be fooled, however, this isn’t a concept album about meteorology. It’s about the way life shifts beneath your feet, about grief and growth, and the struggle to stay grounded through it all.

The band have felt plenty of that shift themselves. Blame It On The Weather marks their first full-length with drummer Benji Bennis, who joined Smith, guitarist Justin Franklin, and bassist Elle Thompson shortly before the release of their 2023 EP Leaving. That EP signaled a turning point for the band, and this new record solidifies the transformation. “It’s kind of crazy to imagine a version of this band without Benji,” says Thompson. “We’re tighter as a band and as people than we ever were before.”

Franklin agrees. “From the inception of our band to this album, you can really see the development. Chance used to write the songs and we’d add parts. Now everyone brings their own voice and identity to each track. This release feels like our band truly coming into its own.”

Recorded by Billy Mannino at Two Worlds Studio in Queens, New York, Blame It On The Weather finds the band locked in. The songs are emotionally heavy but musically precise, held together by Bennis’ dynamic drumming and the kind of chemistry that can’t be forced. From the aching, romantic burn of “Sunsetting” to the noisy catharsis of the closing title track, the album balances emotional weight with urgency and drive.

“Benji’s drumming style gave us something we didn’t have,” says Smith. “It feels inseparable from who we are now.”

For Bennis, the feeling is mutual. “Kerosene Heights was a band I liked a lot before I joined,” he says. “There was definitely some imposter syndrome at first, but it’s been the easiest process joining a band I’ve ever experienced.”

That ease translates into something powerful. The songs hit hard, not just because of what they say but because of how tightly the band delivers them. What started as a tongue-in-cheek mission to revive the spirit of short-lived emo heroes Grown Ups has turned into something more personal and enduring. As Brooklyn Vegan put it, "...it’s been a minute since I’ve heard a band do mathy Midwest emo as clear, punchy, and hook-driven”

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