adults – Flag (Fika Recordings)
Inspired by Fugazi’s Cashout, Flag is the final single from adults forthcoming second album – and it’s an absolute winner, taking side-swipes at gentrification through layered vocals and big melodic riffs.
Artist: adults
Track: Flag
Label: Fika Recordings
Released: 14 October 2025
Find it: Bandcamp
If there is a better track messing about with time signatures and sending you dangerously close to sensory overload with the overlapping vocals while despairing about late-stage capitalism then I am yet to hear it. Flag, the last single to be released by adults ahead of their second album The Seeds We Sow Are Sprouting Buds Nonetheless, easily leads the field here.
Following on from earlier singles Crying and Patterns, Flag is a complex composition, crunchy guitars, world weariness, and fills that bring ceremony to a world in which all hope is being relentlessly crushed.
‘down payment on a two bed / six months rent deposit / keys to the flat, no problem / keep the windows open to keep mold out’
Flag is melodic and although the changing time signatures and layers throw you wonderfully off balance is massively catchy. The duelling vocals give this the sense of two songs playing over the top of each other at first, mirroring the division those in power benefit from. But the pop-punk energy flows high and this all comes together in big hooks and harmonies, the despair in the lyrics offset by the joyfulness evoked through the playing together.
As ever there is rebellion and solidarity to be found in music, and this is pop-punk which is both an on-the-mark observation of the world around us and a big tune to get lost in. It’s indiepop that hits you straight in the feels, bringing both comfort and feeding The Fear. It’s familiar enough as adults that you’ll instantly love it, but showing ambition and musical prowess that will also leave you excited for more.
Flag by adults is out now digitally. The album The Seeds We Sow Are Sprouting Buds Nonetheless is out on 31 October on vinyl, CD and digital via Fika Recordings.
Find adults: Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp | Bluesky
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Sarah Lay
A long-standing music journalist she's also co-founder of independent record label Reckless Yes, an author of novels, and when not messing around with words and music, a digital strategist.
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