Radkey’s new album Bedroom Sand arrives July 14th, and before you hear a single note, the story of how it was recorded tells you everything you need to know about who these three brothers are. During the summer break of 2025, they connected with a professor at Syracuse University, snuck onto campus, and cut eight tracks in the School of Music’s professional studio — unauthorized, resourceful, and completely on their own terms. That’s not a publicity angle. That’s just Radkey being Radkey.
The Kansas City punk trio — Isaiah, Dee, and Solomon Radke, raised on their dad’s records in a small pink house in St. Joseph, Missouri — have spent their entire career operating this way: outrunning bad deals, reclaiming their rights, and making the music happen regardless of what the industry puts in their way. Bedroom Sand is the sound of a band that has been through it and come out the other side with something to say.
They have persevered through it all and are the very definition of DIY — they book their own shows, self-release their records, and have taken back their rights. That’s what Victory looks like.
— Exposed VocalsThe Record and How It Got Made
The DIY ethos isn’t a pose for Radkey — it’s the only mode they’ve ever operated in. They were signed to a label that got bought out and left them without a team. They inked a publishing deal with someone who disappeared when crypto collapsed. A major agency put them on tours that paid $250 a night. Each time, they regrouped, kept moving, and made the next record happen.
For Bedroom Sand, the solution was characteristically creative: a professor connection, a university campus emptied out for summer break, and a world-class recording studio that nobody was using. Eight songs tracked in the Syracuse University School of Music. The result is described as eight songs of unyielding defiance — which, given the circumstances of the recording, is exactly the right description.
The lead single Ready To Burn is out now alongside an official video. The band describes it as a nostalgic, bouncy sing-along rooted in growing up on the road — packed with references to Pillars of Eternity, Pokémon, and Kansas City punk veterans Local H. It sounds like a band that knows exactly who they are and isn’t trying to be anything else.
We got a lot of fun references in there — Pillars of Eternity covers our love for the Obsidian RPG games, Pokémon covers the old anime that we’re always watching, and even a reference to one of our favorite bands, Local H.
— RadkeyBedroom Sand — Full Tracklist
To see Radkey live is to become a believer. Foo Fighters, Jack White, Rise Against, Living Colour — ask any of their tourmates and they’ll tell you the same thing.
— Exposed VocalsOn the Road This Summer
Radkey kicked off their summer run last weekend with the 4th annual RadFest in Kansas City — their own festival, self-organized, because that’s what you do when you’ve been doing everything yourself for long enough. A Midwest run of tour dates follows through July, with more to be announced.
The live reputation precedes them. Foo Fighters, Jack White, Rise Against, Living Colour, The Offspring, the Descendents, and Local H have all brought Radkey out on the road, which is a co-sign list that speaks for itself. The consensus from anyone who has seen them is consistent: once you’ve caught a Radkey set, you don’t forget it.
For an independent band with no label, no booking agency, and no management handling it for them, that kind of word-of-mouth is the whole engine. Bedroom Sand arrives July 14th. The tour is happening now.
Bedroom Sand by Radkey releases July 14, 2026. Stream Ready To Burn now and follow the band for more dates as they’re announced. Are you an independent artist with a story to tell? Get featured on Exposed Vocals.