Hardcore punk lifers DFL (Dead Fucking Last) are back with their ferocious new full-length Fuck It, arriving this spring via SBÄM Records. The album will be released on vinyl April 24 in Europe and May 29 in the United States, with pre-orders available now.
More than three decades into their career, DFL remain as fast, loud, and unpredictable as ever — but “Second Chances” proves they can still hit just as hard when they slow down long enough to look back.
Fuck It finds DFL channeling the reckless spirit that first ignited the band in the early ’90s while sharpening it with decades of experience. The album also brings together an all-star crew behind the scenes. Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise) produced and mixed the record, adding lead guitar work on “WWFD” and the title track “Fuck It,” while contributing guest vocals on “Fuck It,” “Tour Talk,” and “Watch Your Step.” The band recorded drums, guitar, bass, and backing vocals with Eddie Casillas (Voodoo Glow Skulls), while Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys) oversaw the lead vocal sessions and provided rough mixes — reconnecting with DFL decades after producing their debut. The collaboration continues the band’s long tradition of working with influential figures across punk and alternative music.
The album delivers nine no-nonsense tracks packed with speed, humor, and attitude — a reminder that DFL’s chaotic blend of hardcore intensity and skate-punk irreverence remains as potent as ever.
A high-speed blast of classic DFL intensity, “Second Chances” stands out as one of the band’s most unexpectedly reflective tracks to date — a rare moment of gratitude and survival from a group long known for chaos, humor, and unfiltered aggression.
“This is about the second chances that life gives you, and being grateful for them,” says guitarist Monty Messex. “Not everyone gets one. It has the line, ‘all the good ones are dead and gone,’ and I think about Taz, a friend of Crazy Tom and me, who passed away after struggling with drugs and alcohol, like a lot of us did. There is also the line, ‘Somehow you and me held on,’ which is literally about Tom and me.”
Driven by a rumbling opening riff, the track quickly erupts into a relentless hardcore sprint, with vocalist Crazy Tom, Messex, and bass player Patrick Sullivan trading off on a dual chorus that hits with both urgency and weight. Beneath the speed and abrasion lies a deeper message — a reflection on survival, loss, and the thin line between the two. The song’s abrupt, handbrake-style ending underscores that tension, cutting off without warning like the lives it references.
The accompanying video, directed by Brendan McKnight and DFL, captures the band’s raw performance energy with a gritty, immediate visual style. Shot and edited by McKnight, the video mirrors the track’s intensity while reinforcing its underlying themes of endurance and perspective.
A blast of raw, high-speed punk energy, Fuck It finds DFL channeling the reckless spirit that first ignited the band in the early ’90s while sharpening it with decades of experience. The album also brings together an all-star crew behind the scenes. Fletcher Dragge (Pennywise) produced and mixed the record, adding lead guitar work on “WWFD” and the title track “Fuck It,” while contributing guest vocals on “Fuck It,” “Tour Talk,” and “Watch Your Step.” The band recorded drums, guitar, bass, and backing vocals with Eddie Casillas (Voodoo Glow Skulls), while Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys) oversaw the lead vocal sessions and provided rough mixes — reconnecting with DFL decades after producing their debut. The collaboration continues the band’s long tradition of working with influential figures across punk and alternative music.
The album delivers nine no-nonsense tracks packed with speed, humor, and attitude — a reminder that DFL’s chaotic blend of hardcore intensity and skate-punk irreverence remains as potent as ever.
DFL began in 1993, when guitarist Monty Messex teamed up with Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz (Beastie Boys) and legendary skateboarder “Crazy” Tom Davis, bonding over their shared love of early ’80s hardcore. Messex had previously played in early LA hardcore band The Atoms (which included a pre–Guns N’ Roses Izzy Stradlin), while Horovitz came out of the New York hardcore scene with The Young and the Useless before joining the Beastie Boys.
Their debut album My Crazy Life (1993), produced by Mario Caldato Jr., was a frantic 20-minute sprint of ragged hardcore that captured the band’s manic live energy. The follow-up, Proud to Be (1995) on Epitaph Records, became a cult favorite for its unapologetically lo-fi, high-speed approach.
After the ambitious and experimental Grateful… (1997), the band went dormant until Messex and Davis reunited DFL in 2013. Their comeback album YRUDFL arrived in 2021 via SBÄM Records, proving the band’s chaotic spirit hadn’t faded. The current lineup features Patrick Sullivan (bass) and Snare Jordan (drums) alongside Messex and Davis.
To celebrate the release of Fuck It, DFL will hit the road this spring, including a run of shows alongside Pennywise, Circle Jerks, and H2O, as well as an appearance at Camp Punksylvania in June.
More than thirty years after their chaotic beginnings, DFL remain as fast, loud, and unapologetic as ever. With Fuck It, the band proves once again that hardcore doesn’t have to be polished to be powerful — sometimes the best response is simply to turn it up and say exactly what the title suggests.