What could be more punk rock than starting a band over matching Rocket from the Crypt tattoos? But not just any band – a supergroup featuring members of The Bollweevils, Bear Away, SPELLS, Methadones, Sludgeworth and Violets. 

“Pressure Set has all been about chance meetings, bonding over favorite bands and wanting to create music with friends,” says drummer Rob Burleson. The seed was first planted in 2024 when Burleson toured with Denver’s SPELLS and met guitarist Dom Brining of UK’s Bear Away. One random tattoo discovery later and there was no turning back. 

“Dom sent me a message saying he had some demos that he had been working on that were in a style more related to Hot Snakes/Night Marchers then Bear Away and asked if I wanted to ‘form a transatlantic collaboration,’” Burleson recalls. The two instrumentalists started preparing demos together, with the idea that they’d send the tracks to friends in the scene to see if anyone wanted to submit lyrical contributions. “Once the songs landed on Daryl’s desk, that’s all she wrote,” says Burleson. Of course, he’s talking about Daryl Wilson of The Bollweevils; Pressure Set is notably his first side project since Landos 45.

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“When Rob brought up doing a few songs for a compilation with other artists, I thought, why not, it'd be fun,” shares Wilson. “Dom's guitar playing made me smile but never would I have thought I'd end up playing in a band with him.” With the band members all over the globe, including Wilson in Chicago, they had to get innovative. “Pressure Set started as a way to exercise our creative muscles remotely,” says Burleson. That meant figuring out how to record from their homes. “If you saw the space I used, you wouldn't believe it — my home office, dog sleeping in his kennel next to me, window to the front porch with cars rushing by, a stone tile floor. It shouldn’t have worked as well as it did,” Wilson jokes.

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But the chemistry was undeniable, even with thousands of miles in distance. “I did two songs and banged them out,” Wilson shares. “After the third, Rob was like, ‘How about a fourth?’ That's when I asked, ‘Are we a band now?’” That officially happened when Wilson brought Chicago punk brethren Simon Lamb (Methadones, Sludgeworth, Violets) for bass.

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Eventually, a fully-fledged album came to fruition, full of “short, sharp blasts of high-energy punk rock,” as Burleson likes to describe it. “Almost like a pop punk band playing darker tones with quick changes. It's not straightforward in any way.” Inspiration ranges from Gang of Four, Wipers, Hot Snakes and MC5 while giving a wink and nod to The Descendents, Naked Raygun, and Samiam, as well as newer bands like Meat Wave and Idles.

For Wilson, it meant challenging himself “to write stuff that wasn't based primarily on anger,” he says. “That is the primary emotion I usually write from, and this was different.”

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Pressure Set’s self-titled debut will be released October 2 on Dr. Strange Records, driven by the first single, the rambunctious “Blood Gimmick” that begs to wonder what happens when humans stop playing the transactional game. “We all have this tendency to go through the motions. Checking boxes with no real meaning,” says Wilson. “People perform for others when they could just be genuine. When the masks come off, you see the truth.”

The dark horse album opener “Binge Watch on Mute” is another piece of inter-social commentary, about “when you find out it's too late to make up for things you should have said,” says Wilson. “But it builds up over time and it gets too heavy to have a true conversation. So instead of taking the action to rectify the situation, you stay silent and let the ability to communicate fade away into silence.”

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Another album standout is “Panic Show” with twinning megaphone vocals from Wilson and special guest Mike Wiebe (Riverboat Gamblers, Drakulas). “It’s a great example of the collaborative spirit this band was formed on,” says Burleson, explaining that around the time Wilson started contributing vocals, Wiebe had also sent over an idea for this single, which ruminates on the pitfalls of an overmedicated and under-functioning society. “We loved how it sounded and thought we could include Daryl in the mix to expand the song,” Burleson adds. “The result is one of our personal favorite tracks on the album.”

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Pressure Set’s debut features a couple of other meaningful collaborations, too, including Evil Engine’s Kryssie Ridolfi laying down vocals for the apocalyptic plunge of "Assistant to the God of Thunder,” as well as Wilson’s daughter Genevieve guesting on the climactic album ender, “Dream Factory.”

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Although the core of the band will always be the four punk vets, the fluid nature of Pressure Set and its revolving door of friends and family is just how the band likes it. “Hopefully it opens the door for more collaborations in the future,” says Wilson. “We want the dynamic to always be fun and exciting. And we want to let the music speak to each player and see what magic comes out.”