Detroit’s BIG LIFE Return with “Out of Breath” Single & Music Video from The Cost of Progress EP (Setterwind Records)
BIG LIFE, L-R: Jordan VonZynda, Dan Nixon, Tyan Allen, and Sean Gauvreau (CREDIT: Andrea Kaminski)
There’s a brand new BIG LIFE EP coming out this upcoming Friday, August 1, 2025! BIG LIFE is a Detroit Hardcore-adjacent Punk band featuring members of The Black Dahlia Murder, Thunderbirds Are Now!, Extra Arms, Speed Circuit, Grey Gardens, Hidebehind, and Due North) is releasing the very p*ssed off The Cost of Progress EP via Setterwind Records. BIG LIFE consists of vocalist Dan Nixon, guitarist Ryan Allen, bassist Sean Gauvreau, and drummer Jordan VonZynda. BIG LIFE recommend you listen to them, if you like the similarly-minded stylings of Hüsker Dü, Drug Church, Swervedriver, The Pixies, Shudder to Think, Gouge Away, Dag Nasty, and Bad Religion. A press release also mentions the band is “carrying the same torch as politically-minded bands like Minor Threat & The Dead Kennedys, BIG LIFE’s The Cost of Progress is the rebel yell that has been seemingly absent from Hardcore since [President Ronald] Reagan left office. It also mentions that “this is the state and mindset [that] BIG LIFE found themselves in while putting together the songs that would comprise the 8-track EP, The Cost of Progress (out on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital via Setterwind Records.) Society is crumbling, The Earth is heating up at a rapid rate, and we’re doing jack sh*t about it.” Thus far, for this EP release roll-out cycle, the band has released a pummeling non-EP cover of Hüsker Dü’s “Something I Learned Today” lifted from 1984’s Zen Arcade, as well as lead-off single, “Out of Breath” accompanied by an official music video.
The Cost of Progress is BIG LIFE’s third EP in just three years following their 2023 self-titled debut EP and slightly more wordy 2024 EP, If You Like Bad Ideas, It’s A Very Exciting Time. For this one, the commissioned three separate hand screen-printed EP covers illustrated by Robert Forest (seemingly in homage to Black Flag’s oft-used artist and hired hand, Raymond Pettibon) entitled Cover A - "End of Convenience," Cover B - "Limited Time Offer," and Cover C - "Sickest Diamonds," which are all each options when pre-ordering The Cost of Progress on vinyl LP. Throughout the EP press release, BIG LIFE also make allusions to George Saunders’ “cynical short story collection,” CivilWarLand in bad decline: stories & a novella, Nirvana, R.E.M., At The Drive-In, and Rites of Spring. In addition to and/or aside from the band members themselves, The Cost of Progress EP boasts a f**kin’ saxophone solo ripped by Matt Jones of The Klouds on “Killed Twice,” engineering and mixing by Patrick Sheufelt (Feast for The Crows, Former Critics, Easy Beach) at I/O Detroit Studios, mastering by Paul Miner (Taking Back Sunday, Thrice, Joyce Manor,) and the aforementioned three “menacing illustrations” by Robert Forest. So, again if you’re even vaguely into Dischord Records/Revolution Summer-style Punk & Hardcore, it is strongly recommended that you check out (and will most likely, thoroughly enjoy) BIG LIFE’s The Cost of Progress EP this upcoming Friday, August 1, 2025 on Setterwind Records. For now, to help whet your appetite, you can check out both BIG LIFE’s own “Out of Breath” and their cover of Hüsker Dü’s “Something I Learned Today” right here within this very feature.
