For Immediate Release:

October 10, 2025

GUITAR UNVEIL NEW ALBUM, 

WE’RE HEADED TO THE LAKE, 

VIA  JULIA’S WAR RECORDINGS

TWELVE SONG ROCK RECORD LOOKS TOWARDS THE FUTURE WITH OPTIMISM, SPRAWLING RIFFS, AND ATONAL HARMONIES

ALBUM RELEASE SHOW NEXT WEEK IN PORTLAND, OR AT SWAN DIVE

 WITH DUSTBUNNY, FILLING, AND SPIDERLING ON OCTOBER 18

SUPPORTING THEY ARE GUTTING A BODY OF WATER ON TOUR THIS FALL 

Photo Credit: Evan Mason-White [Download Hi-Res]

“Worth digging through the SEO weeds for.” 

- THE FADER

“Churning, loud-ass guitars that threaten to bury the melodic vocal hooks at the center. It’s aggressive and laconic, music made in a bedroom that sounds like it’s exploding and then swallowing itself like a black hole forming.”

- STEREOGUM

“Odd, jagged tracks that warp at a glance from one idea to the next, and back again.”

- POST-TRASH

“Guitar is primed to be a significant player in modern indie rock.”

- GLIDE MAGAZINE

“Like listening to a rock album on the fritz. Kuli’s vocals seem to emanate from different sides of the stereo field, and the guitars are often treated as choppy samples.”

- WILLAMETTE WEEK

Portland rock band Guitar, is excited to share their new album, We’re Headed To The Lake, available everywhere now, via beloved tastemaker label Julia’s War Recordings. Across twelve songs, bandleader Saia Kuli explores where we’re headed with a positive outlook, memorable riffage, and deep hooks. Cassette tapes and CDs of today’s release can be found on juliaswar.com and in record stores worldwide. 

“‘We’re Headed to the Lake’ is about “making shit happen” in the spiritual sense,” Kuli explains. “In spite of all of the album’s stream-of-consciousness detours, the common thread holding it together is drunk pep talks in the bathroom mirror, miraculously saving the vibe of an adventure gone awry by telling a great joke, being DIY to a fault, and punching above your weight. I think the album almost had to be this affirming or I would’ve given up and left a lot of these songs half-stuck in the ether.”

LISTEN TO WE’RE HEADED TO THE LAKE

Last month, Guitar shared “Every Day Without Fail,” which takes an insistent approach, with cyclical riffs and cynical lyricism resulting in a fast-paced track that brings the noise and fills despondency with a new sense of urgency. The song balances wants and needs, ultimately mirroring the choices and sacrifices made in one’s life to achieve contentment. The official music video premiered alongside the track, which features Kuli performing at the sheet metal shop where he works, enjoying the mundanity of daily life and repairing a motorcycle. “Chance to Win” followed, reflecting on the potential of a new beginning and the possibility of success. Delicate guitar riffs surround laidback vocals from Kuli’s wife, Jontajshae Smith, followed by intricate string arrangements.

Guitar announced the new album with “Pizza for Everyone,” which name-drops the record’s name and portrays vignettes of lake days and couches with coins between the cushions, using pizza as a motivator. Laced with head-bobbing riffs and urgent lyricism, the track is infused with the whimsy of an unplanned summer day. Glide Magazine praised the single, declaring that “Guitar is primed to be a significant player in modern indie rock.”

LISTEN TO “CHANCE TO WIN”

WATCH “EVERY DAY WITHOUT FAIL”

LISTEN TO “PIZZA FOR EVERYONE”

Last year, Guitar shared Casting Spells On Turtlehead, their first release for Julia’s War Recordings, in collaboration with Portland label Spared Flesh. Featuring “One Unit of Chaos” and “Create Mode,” the album received praise from Post-Trash, Stereogum, and The FADER. The latter called Kuli’s songwriting “unique [and] scrappy,” declaring the album “worth digging through the SEO weeds for.”

Guitar has had a packed tour schedule thus far: performing at Philadelphia's U3 Fest and opening for beloved artists like Wishy, Horse Jumper of Love, and Cloud Nothings, as well as supporting Horsegirl in a hometown appearance with NYC band Godcaster. This fall, they’ll head out on the road with label-head They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, opening up shows across the Midwest and Pacific Northwest. For more information on upcoming performances, see below and follow the band on Instagram at @g9g9guitar.

GUITAR LIVE

OCTOBER

18 - Swan Dive - Portland, OR #

30 - Mahall’s - Lakewood, OH *

31 - Edgemen Printing - Detroit, MI*

NOVEMBER

1 - Subterranean - Chicago, IL*

2 - Underground Music Cafe - Minneapolis, MN *

5 - TBA - Vancouver, BC

6 - TBA - Seattle, WA

7 - Polaris Hall - Portland, OR*

# - Headlining Album Release Show

* - supporting TAGABOW 

GUITAR

WE’RE HEADED TO THE LAKE

JULIA’S WAR RECORDINGS

[Download Hi-Res Artwork]

1. A+ for The Rotting Team

2. Chance to Win

3. Cornerland

4. Ha

5. The Game Has Changed

6. Everyday Without Fail - WATCH

7. Office Clots

8. Pizza for Everyone

9. Pinwheel

10. A Toast To Tovarishch

11. The Chicks Just Showed Up

12. Counting on a Blow Out

ABOUT GUITAR:

Portland’s Indie rock band Guitar continues to make heavy waves in the underground music scene with their fearlessly experimental, ever-evolving sound and commanding showmanship. Fusing elements of 90’s slacker rock, post-punk and beatmaking, Guitar accomplishes multitudes, challenging their audience to think harder about what they actually need from music. The answer is that they need more Guitar. In his book The Trial, Franz Kafka said, “From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back. That is the point that must be reached.” These words ring true as Guitar releases their second and most powerful LP to date, We’re Headed to the Lake, available this fall from Julia’s War.

Saia Kuli, Guitar’s songwriter and producer, grew up in the outskirts of Portland in a working-class part of town affectionately called The Numbers. There, Kuli, cut his teeth endlessly demoing songs, finding his vision and voice, muscling to find a place as an outsider in the tightly-knit Portland scene. After some trial and error, Kuli formed the band Gary Supply then later joined Nick Normal’s rotating cast of guitar-slingers, carving his place within the Portland punk scene. After riding the rock wave for several years, newly inspired by the prolific beatmaking of producers like MF Doom and Madlib, Kuli withdrew into his Ableton beat lab to explore new modes of songwriting. But no one can escape the power of rock and roll, and Kuli found himself staring at the guitar in the corner of his bedroom. Reinvigorated by bands like Guided By Voices, The Pixies, and Cleaners from Venus, it was time to pick up his Silvertone. Combining his love for making beats and rock n roll, Kuli began to create something new. This was the beginning of Guitar. 

Guitar is Kuli’s escape from the classic band-structured songwriting barriers. Using beats and loops, Kuli began to write songs the way he heard them- pushing boundaries and embracing the jangly, discordant 2-note shapes of bands like The Stray Trolleys and The Brotherhood of Lizards- eventually resulting in several singles and an EP. But Kuli’s northstar for Guitar was the continued exploration of all shapes and forms of pop, rock, and punk. So, he continued to write and record, resulting in the creation of Guitar’s first LP, Casting Spells on Turtlehead. Released by Philly label Julia’s War, Casting Spells on Turtlehead melds modern fried shoegaze and punk unified by Kuli’s odd harmonies and off-kilter guitar playing. While this record was well-received, ultimately, Kuli has more to say with his forthcoming LP, We’re Headed to The Lake. Kuli returned to the studio with his drummer Nikhil Wadhwa, his cousin, his wife, and co-producer Morgan Snook in pursuit of a new destination.

With We’re Headed to The Lake, Kuli abandons modern shoegaze conventions and creates something much more akin to 90’s alternative groups like Teenage Fanclub and Guided By Voices. The song , “The Game Has Changed” sounds like a mushroom-fueled reimagining of a Weezer song with its deeply memorable hooks warped by oblong riffs and atonal harmonies. Songs like “Every Day Without Fail” are positively triumphant, urging listeners to bob their heads endlessly as the locked-in guitarmonies sail over the upbeat rhythms, only to dissolve into a twisted, hulking hardcore breakdown. “Chance To Win” features Kuli’s wife and feels like a love-induced fever dream with its elegant, orchestral arrangements. The rest of the album follows suit with densely arranged, compelling, and surprising tracks. We’re Headed to The Lake is a sprawling and invigorating leap for Kuli. The record is generally more lyrically and melodically positive, giving the Guitar audience something hopeful; a uniquely beautiful response to an often dark world. The record feels like a place that Kuli was headed all along, and now, he has finally arrived. He has finally arrived at the lake. 

ABOUT JULIA’S WAR RECORDINGS:

Julia’s War Recordings is a community-based record label out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but serving the greater world as a whole. Founded by Douglas Dulgarian of They Are Gutting A Body of Water in 2021, we aim to provide physical media for bands that rock, for people pushing the boundaries of music and creation in the modern day.

CONNECT WITH GUITAR:

INSTAGRAM | BANDCAMP 

CONNECT WITH JULIA’S WAR RECORDINGS:

WEBSITE | BANDCAMP | INSTAGRAM

# # #

Press contact:

Kenzie Davis

kenzie@bighassle.com