For nearly two decades IRON LUNG have played an integral part in punk / hardcore and all scenes adjacent via their music and very own esteemed label, Iron Lung Records. From the beginning, duo Jensen Ward and Jon Kortland have ethically / sonically approached the world: Do It Yourself, obscure, extreme, maladjusted and utterly free from the constraints of “music” or, more widely, rules in general. Today IRON LUNG are back with their first new full-length album in over 12 years – Adapting // Crawling – a vital, 21 minute onslaught that takes head shots at mental health with specific emphasis on the exacting tolls that the past five years have taken on humanity.
Each song on Adapting // Crawling is a newly peeled layer exposing the corrosive effects of deep depression, a failed healthcare system, heavy grief from multiple friends/family deaths, paranoia and distrust of government, meaningless existence and loss. So much loss. When time disappeared between 2020 and 2023, the loss of function, of relation, of drive, of everything was incalculable. Life goes on but we lose a little more each day. To help cope with that crushing reality, IRON LUNG finally sat down and wrote about their pain.
In order to not be consumed by it, they built a wall around themselves utilizing an “us versus them” modality in the lyrics. All of the band’s points of view are from the “we” stance and are funneled through their long established lens of antiquated medical procedures and devices. The only times that mode breaks is when quoting an outsider view before rejecting and destroying it. The power belongs to IRON LUNG and by association, to the allied listener.
IRON LUNG celebrate Adapting // Crawling simultaneously with the label’s 18th anniversary this weekend in Seattle. Their own three day curated hometown fest – What We Like – kicks off tonight across three all-age venues: The Vera Project, Black Lodge and Beacon Cinema. Throughout the weekend, IRON LUNG are joined by 26 exceptional bands from all around the globe, plus two films, an art show and local cuisine. Tickets and more info are here. Iron Lung have also confirmed performances throughout 2025 across North America, UK, Japan, Australia, Iceland, so on, including a highly anticipated return to NYC this summer. For a full list of live dates, see below.
Iron Lung Live Dates:
Apr 18-20: Seattle, WA – The Vera Project * (WHAT WE LIKE Weekend) Jun 11: Reykjavik, IS – The Bird Jun 13-15: Copenhagen DK – Ungdomshuset (K-Town Hardcore Fest) Jun 18: London, UK – New River Studios ~ Jun 19: Bristol, UK – Exchange ~ Jun 22: Brooklyn, NY – Union Pool Jul 11: Brisbane, AU – Crowbar Jul 12: Sydney, AU – Marrickville Bowls Club Jul 13: Melbourne, AU – Fairfield Bowls Club Jul 18: Melbourne, AU – The Tote Jul 19: Frankston, AU – Singing Bird Studio Jul 20: Perth, AU – Milk Bar Jul 24: Tokyo, JP – Earthdom Jul 25: Nagoya, JP – Huckfinn Jul 26: Osaka, JP Jul 27: Osaka, JP – Bears Jul 28: Tokyo, JP – Moonstep Jul 29: Yokohama, JP – El Puente
* w/ Slant, Bootlicker, Physique, Direct Threat and Crawl Space ~ w/ Bad Breeding
More About Iron Lung:
Early 1999, IRON LUNG started life in Reno, NV, rising from the ashes of (the real and best) GOB, a prolific and bizarre punk band that was Jon’s primary creative outlet for a few years which Jensen also played in during its last few months of existence, and KRALIZEC, a one-off project band solely dedicated to the mythology of Frank Herbert’s ‘Dune’. Both of these groups played the now legendary series of extreme punk showcases, “Fiesta Grande”, Chris Dodge of Slap-A-Ham/SPAZZ fame used to put on at 924 Gilman in Berkeley during the last half of the 90’s. Those shows served as a basis for how IRON LUNG would proceed as a unit: The “No Gods / No Masters” approach.
Both Jensen and Jon share a love for old medical practices and equipment. The intrigue of barber-surgeons bleeding people to treat their ill “humors” or full on performing limb amputations simply because they had a razor and the dexterity to wield it was just too exciting to ignore. They wondered if anyone had ever really considered the consequences of a lobotomy, electromyography, trepanation, Xenotransplantation, maggot therapy or even using heroin as cough medicine? The real one that hit home was the sheer brutality of a machine invented for the sole purpose of using positive and negative air pressure to physically force a polio-paralyzed person to breathe was such a heavy concept that there was denying their path. IRON LUNG would like to take this moment to thank John Haven Emerson, who died mere weeks before the band was born, for inventing such a barbaric and inspiring piece of respiratory machinery.
Yes, they write songs about these literal subjects but they’ve always employed them as analogies for other issues as well. Their first album, Life. Iron Lung. Death., is about the life cycle of living with and eventually dying from terminal diseases that only manmade machines can painfully prolong. Their sophomore and most well known effort, Sexless // No Sex, is about the human condition with focus on life/love/gender with a lack of care. White Glove Testplays with double meanings but is centered around the Cold War and the science that almost cured the Earth of humans altogether. Plus, IRON LUNG’s beloved polio epidemic, in which almost every song of their universe is set against, took place smack in the middle of that particular (pun intended!) conflict. All of these generally regard life as a short and sour time without much hope for improvement. So, not exactly a party band.
