Monarch Release New Album MA3
Monarch had two LPs out in the Beforetimes, and both were cool, but the San Diego three-piece pretty clearly aren’t looking to retread the past as they blend analog and electronic instrumentation across MA3, their third full-length released through PFR Records. The band yesterday hosted a listening party on Bandcamp for the record and that’s where I heard it, so if you’re thinking I’m on some cool blogger inside track, rest assured, such a thing doesn’t exist. To wit, the album’s already out.
That’s right. Not in two months, not in two weeks, but like three days ago. Still, the listening party was good fun, and the keyboardy focus of the album speaks for itself in the songs way better than I could by saying something like “keyboardy focus,” and if you find you can’t get down with the yacht heavyprog of “Firebird,” take a couple minutes and adjust your mindset before you try again. It’s good fun, just a hyperspecific kind of it. A vibe, in the parlance of five years ago.
The info below comes from their Bandcamp:
San Diego’s Monarch have long been known for explosive live sets and harmony-drenched psych rock. Their third studio album, MA3, marks a significant leap forward. Where Two Isles (2016) and Beyond the Blue Sky (2019) drew from classic and modern psych rock, space rock, and progressive rock, MA3 finds the band threading electronics through the bones of their heavy psych sound — big, layered synths and tighter arrangements that hold the weight of their earlier records while reaching toward something sleeker and more luminous. Think Pond’s sun-baked psych rock fused with Daft Punk’s heavyweight synth production, but distinctly Monarch.
Monarch has toured extensively in the US and Europe, including a 2023 run with Earthless, whose guitarist Isaiah Mitchell contributes a scorching guest solo on “Face to Face.” The album’s visual identity was created by San Diego photographer and creative director Dana Trippe, known for her work with Tame Impala, Angel Olsen, Automatic, and Pond’s Nick Allbrook.
The album arrives as Monarch returns to the stage for a run of 2026 live dates, with synth textures and vocal harmonies that reward both headphone listening and a live audience.
MA3 is released on PFR Records as a limited pressing of 200 on vinyl with full-color sleeve.
Links to listen everywhere here:
ffm.to/wouldve-happened-by-now
Tracklisting:
1. Chitta 02:12
2. Stranger 05:19
3. Rumor 04:07
4. Would’ve Happened by Now 06:40
5. Ejecta 1& 2 02:50
6. Moving Through a Dream 03:41
7. Which is it to Blame? 03:59
8. Hard to Know 04:49
9. Face to Face 05:22
Monarch are:
Dominic Fanghella
Sonny Yates
Andrew Ware
https://monarch4.bandcamp.com/
https://instagram.com/__mon__arch__
https://www.facebook.com/Monarch-band-1465052633727017/
https://www.pfr-records.com/
https://pfr-records.bandcamp.com/
https://www.instagram.com/pfr_nyc
https://www.facebook.com/pfr.records
