Provoker share two new singles ‘germaphobe’ + ‘tears in the club’

Provoker share two new songs today from their forthcoming album with ‘germaphobe’and ‘tears in the club’. The two tracks serve as the final advance offering from the LA-based band’s third full-length LP, Mausoleum, out May 9th via YEAR0001 and arrive with a double-feature music video. As a pairing, ‘germaphobe’ and ‘tears in the club’ are both anchored in one of the album’s central themes of isolation, but in true Provoker fashion, those universal feelings are made cripplingly grandiose.

The songwriting partnership of Christian Crow Petty and Jonathon Lopez sees Provoker embody haunting, lurid characters and scenes that heighten those feelings to their logical extreme, making them feel slyly vulnerable, yet larger-than-life.

Provoker’s forthcoming album was made in stark contrast to their prior albums, which were made in seclusion. Mausoleum, however, is one of the most communal and collaborative projects the band has ever made, executive produced by esteemed producer Kenneth Blume.

The band’s Christian Crow Petty, Jonathon Lopez and Wil Palacios workshopped ideas together in studio sessions, born out of Petty’s thoughts of hauntings while holed up in an Echo Park attic. The album also enlists additional production from accomplished friends like Elliot Kozell (Yves Tumor, SZA), Simon Christensen (Gunna, Young Thug), Mikey Freedom Hart (Blood Orange, Lana Del Rey) and Zach Fogarty (Jean Dawson, Eyedress).

On Mausoleum, Provoker’s signature darkness has grown even bolder, sharpened and synthesized with the addition of Blume’s production and other outside perspectives. Petty and Lopez’s songwriting partnership delves deeper on the album, shifting the focus from supernatural creatures and the sci-fi of their cinematic influences to a world more rooted in our own reality and the hauntings of our own personal struggles. Those revelations are couched in the band’s characteristically vivid imagery of grotesquerie but capture all-too-familiar feelings of the struggles of self-worth, relationships and redemption.

For the uninitiated, Provoker began as a solo effort from musician Jonathon Lopez to create scores for horror and sci-fi films. After joining forces with vocalist and songwriter Christian Crow Petty and bassist Wil Palacios, Provoker released their debut full-length album as a trio with Body Jumper in 2021 and followed up with their 2023 release Demon Compass, which Alternative Press described as “uniquely emotional and addicting.” The band has toured alongside the likes of Viagra Boys, Beach Fossils, Turnover, glaive and TR/ST and spent 2024 touring across North America, including festival sets at Sound & Fury, Viva PHX and Substance Fest.

To celebrate Mausoleum, Provoker will embark on their headline North American tour this May and June, which will kick off following their performance at Cruel World festival in Pasadena, California on May 17th. The 19-date run will see Provoker perform across the country with support from RIP Swirl and faerybabyy. Tickets are available now HERE.

Check out ‘germaphobe’ and ‘tears in the club’ and pre-order / save Mausoleum above, see full live dates and album details below, and stay tuned for more from Provoker coming very soon.

Upcoming Live Dates

*= w/ support from RIP Swirl and faerybabyy

5/28 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom*

5/30 – Austin, TX @ The Ballroom*

5/31 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Downstairs*

6/02 – Atlanta, GA @ Purgatory*

6/03 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room*

6/05 – Washington, DC @ The Atlantis*

6/06 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar*

6/07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Ukie Club*

6/10 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair*

6/11 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg*

6/13 – Toronto, ON @ Axis Club*

6/14 – Detroit, MI @ El Club*

6/15 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall*

6/17 – Kansas City, MO @ recordBar*

6/19 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater*
6/20 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Soundwell*
6/21 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club*

6/23 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret*

6/24 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos*

6/25 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater*

6/27 – San Fransisco, CA @ The Independent*

Mausoleum tracklist 

1. ‘Swarm of Flies’
2. ‘Tears In The Club’
3. ‘Prisoner of Love’
4. ‘Pantomime’
5. ‘Germaphobe’
6. ‘Another Boy’
7. ‘Gun2MyHead’
8. ‘Glow In The Dark’
9. ‘Mausoleum’
10. ‘Singing Gun’
11. ‘Replay’