NYC indie rock band Telescreens channel rage, burnout, and numbness into communal release on their ferocious, full-throttle single “Nothing,” capturing how noise becomes survival in a city that never sleeps.
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Stream: “Nothing” – Telescreens
Sometimes, feeling nothing actually means feeling a whole lot of something.
Maybe an existential crisis is afoot, or maybe it’s ennui – a numbness to the world – but whatever the case may be, that emptiness can hit us harder than we ever expected.
For NYC’s Telescreens, that void doesn’t linger quietly. The second their single “Nothing” kicks in, it feels necessary – a volatile, feverish indie rock eruption that had to get out before it burned a hole straight through the band. Polished yet unvarnished, the song surges with rage, urgency, and kinetic force, turning emotional overload into something loud enough to survive.
your will is gone
call it off
all your friends
have given it up
but something’s left
more to say
am i just chasing
i don’t feel nothing
you don’t feel nothing…
you don’t feel nothing…
Released October 28th via +1 Records, Telescreens’ “Nothing” is ferocious and alive enough to cut straight through your bones. It doesn’t ease you in or ask permission; it explodes on contact. A high-velocity burst of angst and urgency, the New York band’s latest offering arrives scorched with heavy, hot-on-the-mic vocals and roaring, savage guitar lines that feel less like riffs than emotional release valves. This is music as motion – charged and churning, restless and turbulent, all-consuming and impossible to sit still through.
Formed between Manhattan and Brooklyn and active since 2020, Telescreens have built their reputation on turning emotional overload into physical release – channeling burnout, pressure, and disillusionment into high-voltage indie rock made for packed rooms and shared catharsis. Comprised of Jackson Hamm (vocals/guitar), Austin Brenner (bass), Josiah Valerius (keys/synth), and Oliver Graf (drums), the band have made a name for themselves thanks to their dynamic, sweat-drenched live shows – and a slew of bold, brash studio releases that capture that same ferocity on record.
“Nothing” is Telescreens’ first and only release of the year, following 2024’s critically acclaimed album 7 and their recent signing to +1 Records – an announcement that hints at much more to come. And while some bands might ease their way in for a more tender reintroduction, Telescreens held nothing back in making this one of the loudest, fiercest tracks folks will hear all year. The band sound like they’re chasing something just out of reach, pushing every feeling past its breaking point until it becomes communal, cathartic, and larger than life. It’s raw and unrelenting, but there’s clarity inside the chaos – a sense that this song isn’t just venting rage, it’s burning toward something.
sometimes I call
you up to bawl
a satellite
around your head
so take some time
but hurry up
you’re rushing cause
you don’t feel nothing…
you don’t feel nothing…
The words land blunt and unfiltered, circling the central mantra like a wound you keep pressing on: You don’t feel nothing.
The refrain is built to be shouted back – a line meant to leave the singer’s mouth and return multiplied – and when it does, the irony becomes the point – numbness transformed into connection, isolation cracked open by sheer volume. As the band put it simply, those are “simple words that we all wanna scream together. We all just wanna feel less alone. Screaming together is how we feel less alone.”
That communal release is core to who Telescreens are. Asked what they want new listeners to know, their answer is as direct as the song itself: “Rock n roll lives.” There’s no posturing here – just belief in the power of loud music to say the things we don’t know how to articulate quietly. Written in what they describe as “an instant moment. Rage/anger boiling over from a desire to feel,” “Nothing” captures that flashpoint where emotion becomes action.
For the band, the song is ultimately about endurance. “This song is about fighting on. Pushing through what makes you uncomfortable because maybe there’s something better on the other side of that,” they explain. “It’s a relinquishing of control. The comforting moment of bliss that comes with acceptance of not knowing. If people went wild while listening, the song would be doing its job.” You can hear that surrender in the music itself – the way it surges forward without restraint, trusting the momentum to carry it somewhere meaningful.
If people went wild while listening, the song would be doing its job.
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That ethos is inseparable from being a New York band.
Telescreens describe themselves as scoring the city’s constant churn: “We score the rat race. We are a representation of the way people feel in the Mecca. It’s hard to survive. The desire for wealth and glory drives this city. We all crave a moment of clarity, where it all makes sense for a moment. We try to bring people and ourselves to that moment.” “Nothing” feels like one of those flashes – brief, blinding, and deeply human – a moment of clarity inside the city’s constant noise.
where are the creeps
the forgotten sheep
they’re losing house and
they’re losing their minds
so call it off
or call your bluff
you’re rushing cause
you don’t feel nothing…
you don’t feel nothing…
The single arrives alongside two companion tracks, “Gimme All You Got” and “Alcoholism,” each carrying its own weight. “‘Gimme All You Got’ was a premonition,” they share – written months before a tragic event that would later give the song chilling context. “Alcoholism,” meanwhile, is devastating in its honesty: “My best friend OD’d and I had a lot to get off my chest. The whole thing is a freestyle. It was barely edited.” Together, the trio forms a portrait of grief, pressure, and survival rendered without filters.
At its core, “Nothing” is about release – not escape, but expression.
“I hope [people] feel better after listening,” the band say. “That’s the whole point of music, to make you feel whatever it is you have to feel. Clean you out, a release.” And that’s exactly what this song does. It doesn’t numb you. It shakes you awake.
As winter settles in, “Nothing” promises to keep our blood moving and spirits lit – a reminder that even in burnout, even in disillusionment, there’s power in sound, in movement, in screaming together until feeling returns. This is indie rock as survival instinct: Ferocious, necessary, and very much alive.
In conversation, Telescreens put language to that raw feeling, speaking plainly about burnout, loss, and the need to turn emotion back on through noise, motion, and shared release. Read our interview below and feel the raw thrill of the band’s shiver-inducing “Nothing” – a song that doesn’t numb the ache, but blasts straight through it.
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:: stream/purchase Nothing here ::
:: connect with Telescreens here ::
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Stream: “Nothing” – Telescreens
A CONVERSATION WITH TELESCREENS
Atwood Magazine: Telescreens, for those who are just discovering you today through this writeup, what do you want them to know about you and your music?
Telescreens: Rock n roll lives.
What's the story behind your song “Nothing”?
Telescreens: It’s a song that was written in an instant moment. Rage/anger boiling over from a desire to feel.
You've talked about themes of burnout, loss, and disillusionment driving your lyrics this time around. What’s this song about, for you?
Telescreens: This song is about fighting on. Pushing through what makes you uncomfortable because maybe there’s something better on the other side of that. It’s a relinquishing of control. The comforting moment of bliss that comes with acceptance of not knowing. If people went wild while listening, the song would be doing its job.
Our beloved city has such a distinct history of indie, alternative, and underground music. What does being a NYC band mean to you?
Telescreens: We score the rat race. We are a representation of the way people feel in the Mecca. It’s hard to survive. The desire for wealth and glory drives this city. We all crave a moment of clarity, where it all makes sense for a moment. We try to bring people and ourselves to that moment.
There's one point in the song where we hear an entire crowd sing, “you don't feel nothing” alongside you, and there's something cathartic, and I think a little ironic, about a big group singing those words... what does that mean, to you?
Telescreens: Simple words that we all wanna scream together. We all just wanna feel less alone. Screaming together is how we feel less alone.
“Nothing” arrives alongside two more songs – “Gimme All You Got” and “Alcoholism.” What are these songs about for you, and how do they fit together as a trio?
Telescreens: “Gimme All You Got” was a premonition. Written about a tragic event months before it happened. Or maybe a coincidence.. depending on what you believe.
“Alcoholism” is pretty much the most literal song possible. My best friend OD’d and I had a lot to get off my chest. The whole thing is a freestyle. It was barely edited.
What do you hope listeners take away from “Nothing,” and what have you taken away from creating it and now putting it out?
Telescreens: I hope they feel better after listening. That’s the whole point of music, to make you feel whatever it is you have to feel. Clean you out, a release.
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:: stream/purchase Nothing here ::
:: connect with Telescreens here ::
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Stream: “Nothing” – Telescreens
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