New Jersey rock duo Tall Days are returning after a seven-year gap with Breakers, a new album that expands the band’s stripped-down garage-rock formula while retaining the raw guitars, heavy drums and melodic hooks that have defined its sound.
Set for release Sept. 29, 2026, Breakers features Graham Hartke on vocals and guitar alongside drummer Joe DeAngelus. The Montclair-based musicians recorded the album at their own Snack Factory studio, drawing on British rock of the 1960s and 1970s, garage rock, blues rock and contemporary indie influences.
The project also reflects the musical connection between North Jersey and New York City, where Tall Days have developed their sound through performances and years of involvement in the regional rock scene.
Tall Days Expand Their Two-Piece Sound on Breakers
Hartke and DeAngelus wrote and recorded Breakers between March 2024 and February 2026, approaching the sessions with an emphasis on loud performances and memorable hooks.
While the core remains guitar and drums, the duo broadened its instrumental palette considerably. Alto and tenor saxophone, Hammond organ, recorder and various percussion instruments appear across the record, giving individual tracks additional texture without moving away from the band’s deliberately rough production style.
The album’s themes are similarly varied. Hartke describes Breakers as a record shaped by duality and the contrasting reactions that can emerge from living through uncertain times.
Songs including “Destroy,” “Gaslight Bomb,” “Breakers,” “Night,” “Less Fortunate” and “On Edge” focus on frustration and confrontation. Other tracks, including “She Is My Girl,” “Humanity,” “Cover Song” and “NYC Rock ’N’ Roll,” emphasize family, optimism and connection.
‘Gaslight Bomb’ and ‘Destroy’ Channel the Album’s Heavier Side
One of the album’s key tracks, “Gaslight Bomb,” uses heavily driven, low-wattage guitar amplifiers to create a fuzz-heavy garage-rock sound. The song takes aim at people who promote distorted versions of reality while expecting others to accept them.
“Destroy” emerged under different circumstances. Hartke developed the song shortly before a performance at Brooklyn venue Our Wicked Lady. Inspired by the aftermath of a difficult breakup, the track approaches starting over through the idea of tearing down what came before rather than gradually repairing it.
Together, the songs represent the more confrontational side of an album that regularly moves between anger and optimism.
Family Contributions Give ‘She Is My Girl’ a Different Direction
“She Is My Girl” provides one of Breakers’ clearest changes in tone. Hartke wrote the song for his young daughter, shifting the album’s focus from frustration toward childhood and family.
Tall Days also expanded the arrangement with congas, bongos, claves, guiro, vibra-slap, cabasa and maracas, building those instruments around the duo’s established rock foundation.
Family members became part of the recording process as well. Hartke’s daughter Hannah, sister Rebecca and singer-songwriter brother Matt Hartke contributed background vocals to the album.
The involvement gives portions of Breakers a distinctly personal dimension while illustrating the broader musical approach the duo adopted during the sessions.
Experienced Mixing and Mastering Team Joins the Project
Although much of Breakers was created at the band’s own studio, Tall Days brought several experienced engineers into the production process.
Mixing duties were divided among Brent Kolatado, whose credits include Lenny Kravitz, Nine Inch Nails and Beastie Boys; Matt Maroulakos, who has worked with Best Coast, The Linda Lindas and Public Access T.V.; and Rubin Nizri, whose credits include Lady Gaga, Sheryl Crow and Steven Van Zandt. Hartke also mixed material for the record.
Bill Skibbe mastered the album at Third Man Mastering. His previous credits include work with The Black Keys, The Raconteurs and The Kills.
Tall Days Build on Years in the New Jersey and New York Rock Scene
Breakers marks Tall Days’ first collection of new music in seven years, although the duo’s history stretches further back through the New Jersey and New York independent rock scenes.
Previous Tall Days releases have received airplay from WFMU, SiriusXM and New York radio station Q104.3. The band’s music has also reached television audiences, with “All in My Way” appearing on Netflix’s Lucifer and “Crosstown” featured on Hulu’s Difficult People.
With Breakers, Tall Days maintain the two-person foundation at the centre of the band while pushing beyond the limitations typically associated with that format. The result combines garage-rock aggression, blues-influenced guitar work, expanded instrumentation and personal songwriting while maintaining the rough edges that have long shaped the duo’s identity.
Seven years after their previous new material, Hartke and DeAngelus are returning with an album that connects their Montclair base with the longstanding rock culture across the Hudson, carrying elements of New Jersey and New York’s underground scenes into the band’s next chapter.