Hoist the Colors Return with “Documentation”—A Folk-Punk Gut Check for the Wandering Soul

JC Vera
Jul 20
2 min read

If your playlist has ever jumped from a sea shanty to a SoCal punk anthem, chances are Hoist the Colors is already on your radar. The Los Angeles folk-punk crew has officially broken their silence with a new single, “Documentation”—a raw, melodic stomp through the highs and lows of being alive, out now on HEY!FEVER RECORDS. Their upcoming album Dear Wanderlust lands October 10, and if this first track is any clue, it's not here to whisper.

“Documentation” feels like a therapy session in a dive bar, with equal parts vulnerability, a lot of loudness, and just enough fiddle to keep you from crying into your drink. Produced by Paul Miner at Buzzbomb Studios, the track finds the band balancing their trademark folk-punk DNA with a more expansive, emotional edge.

“We wrote it about the emotional whiplash that comes with just… being a human,” says front man Josh Linden. “The big wins. The brutal losses. The weird in-between stuff that somehow makes it all make sense.”

Directed by Jeff Anton, the music video takes place at the Port of Los Angeles, an appropriately chaotic backdrop for a band navigating the ebbs and flows of life with amps cranked and boots worn in. It’s not glamorous, but it’s real

which has kind of always been Hoist the Colors’ thing.

Blending bluegrass, traditional folk, and the punk rock energy they cut their teeth on, the band’s upcoming album promises more stories of heartbreak, triumph, and the confusing middle ground in between. Dear Wanderlust is shaping up to be a musical road trip for the disillusioned dreamer, of course, sans the traffic on the 405.

Having shared stages with the likes of Flogging Molly and surviving the open seas on their Salty Dog Cruise, Hoist the Colors aren’t rookies. But this new chapter shows a band that’s aging like whiskey—not wine. Stronger, a little smokier, and with stories worth telling.

Catch them live before they vanish back into the wilderness: