VILLAIN PRESS Taps DANGEROUS TOYS, DIRTY LOOKS Veterans for Debut EP No Return

VILLAIN PRESS will release its debut EP, No Return, bringing together musicians whose résumés stretch across DANGEROUS TOYS, DIRTY LOOKS, L.A. GUNS and the broader hard rock scene.

The project is anchored by bassist Joe Punk, host of The Rock N Roll & Coffee Show, alongside DANGEROUS TOYS vocalist Jason McMaster, guitarist Paul Lidel and multi-instrumentalist Adam Hamilton on drums.

The collaboration grew directly out of Punk's podcast. McMaster, Lidel and Hamilton have each appeared as guests, while Punk, McMaster and Hamilton had already tested their chemistry in 2022 with a cover of JUDAS PRIEST's “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” released under the VILLAIN PRESS name.

“My goal was to make this project a kind of podcasters-and-rockers project,” Punk said. “It just seemed like the perfect opportunity to take that chemistry and turn it into something original.”

The result is a four-song EP built around melodic hard rock, sleaze, punk attitude and the kind of straightforward rock ’n’ roll swagger associated with AC/DC, GUNS N’ ROSES and BUCKCHERRY.

“No Return is a collection of four raw rock ’n’ roll songs,” Punk said. “It’s got that classic hard rock and sleaze attitude, but with our own modern edge.”

First single “Race To Be Dead” puts that approach up front with a fast, hook-driven track examining the consequences behind the romanticized live-fast, die-young mentality.

“Sometimes the race to be dead catches up with you a lot faster than you expected,” Punk said.

For now, VILLAIN PRESS is treating No Return as a self-contained project rather than promising a permanent new band. But Punk isn't closing the door on another round.

The No Return EP is available for preorder and presave now.