Hardcore bands don't usually get booked next to stadium pop-punk, but DRAIN has done it before. Their label says they've played arenas with Blink-182, who headline this year's Sonic Temple, and opened for pop-punk bands like Neck Deep. So a stadium festival with Blink-182 at the top isn't new ground for them.
The band is a trio from Santa Cruz, California: Sammy Ciaramitaro on vocals, Cody Chavez on guitar and Tim Flegal on drums, together since 2014. California Cursed came out in 2020 in the middle of lockdown, and Living Proof in 2023 was their first record for Epitaph. Revolver called them hardcore's "most fun band," and the joke isn't hidden: the mascot on their latest cover is a cartoon shark sunbathing.
That latest album, ...Is Your Friend, came out in November 2025, and the title goes back to a phrase their drummer started using years ago. "We're not hard dudes," Ciaramitaro has said. Producer Jon Markson recorded the album live, with real-time drums, no metronome and no programming, and Ciaramitaro freestyled much of the lyrics. They cover what's happened since California Cursed: getting married, turning DRAIN into a full-time touring band, and the strain of being away from home for so long.