Cel Ray Detail Debut Album 'Cel Rayzer' and Share "Price Of Gas"

Chicago’s Cel Ray set a July 24 release for their debut album on Exploding In Sound, led by a single that turns fuel costs into a frantic rock opera.

Cel Ray will release their first full-length album this summer. “Cel Rayzer” arrives on July 24 via Exploding In Sound, the label that’s been a steady home for their sharp, fast post-punk. The announcement comes with a new song titled “Price Of Gas.”

Vocalist Maddie Davis describes the track as a rock opera sung by an American man who’s let gas prices consume his identity. Every grievance he has with his wife, his job, his stalled ambitions gets funneled into that one number on the pump. He can’t see beyond it. The music matches that fixation. It’s tight, careening garage-punk played at hardcore speed, pushing forward without a second to breathe.

The band built a reputation on two 2023 EPs, “Cellular Raymond” and “Piss Park,” which documented a sound that refuses to sit still. “