Let's Start Degeneracy

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Let's Start Degeneracy is Microwave’s 2024 studio album. It was released on April 26, 2024, runs 30 minutes and 23 seconds, and features English-language songs in the alt rock and punk rock styles. The album was produced by Nathan Hardy and released on Pure Noise.

Background
The band initially talked about releasing singles, but decided to issue a full album to fit their Pure Noise deal and to create a bigger PR push and storyline. The success of Circling The Drain—which became a crowd favorite live and online—helped shape this direction. The band decided this album would serve as a blueprint for their future sound.

Reception
The album received positive reviews. BrooklynVegan’s Andrew Sacher called it notable, noting return-to-form moments compared to Microwave’s 2019 album Death Is a Warm Blanket, while highlighting its unique blend of trippy elements with more conventional alt-rock, likening it to a mix of Weezer, Third Eye Blind, and Manchester Orchestra. Kerrang! gave it 3 out of 5, calling it a riotous collection of mellow songs between shoegaze emo and ambient indie-pop, though some may find it a touch self-indulgent.

Stereogum named it Album of the Week, with Danielle Chelosky praising the lyrics as wise and the move toward a liberated, uplifting sound as sincere and earned. In a mid-year roundup, Stereogum ranked it 31st among the year’s best so far, calling it shocking, powerful, and catchy.

Vinyl editions include a hidden track of “Santeria.”