Big Stir Records welcomes to our roster – and brings you a new single from – true psychedelic rock pioneers STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK! A new era for the legendary veterans begins with “Monsters,” an all-new song dripping with dramatic tension and destined to haunt you throughout the Halloween season and beyond. It sees release on all digital platforms worldwide on October 3 (and will appear on Vinyl and CD as part of Big Stir's Halloween celebration Chilling, Thrilling Hooks And Haunted Harmonies one week later). Backed with another new track, “White Light,” as a virtual B-side and including a shorter edit of the A-side for radio, “Monsters” is up for pre-order and pre-save now:

https://orcd.co/strawberryalarmclock-monsters

Lest there be any doubt, yes, this is unquestionably STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK of “Incense and Peppermints” fame, perhaps the quintessential psychedelic pop rock band in the hearts of millions. The current lineup is much as it was in 1967 on the classic debut album: MARK STEPHEN WEITZ (keyboards), RANDY SEOL (drums), GEORGE BUNNELL (bass), GENE GUNNELS (drums/percussion), and STEVE BARTEK (guitar and flute, and well-known for his work with Oingo Boingo between his times with the SAC), plus guitarist HOWIE ANDERSON who's been a full member since a 1987 reunion. More importantly and true to their legacy, they remain completely original and experimental. They are not here to revisit the classics of their back catalog and their original era; they did that with admirable grace on their first reunion album Wake Where You Are in 2012. Now, as in the beginning, they break new ground and usher in a new age for not just STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK but melodic psychedelia itself.

The new song “Monsters” is indeed psychedelic, and groovy in both senses of the word, but it is also – in the spirit of the Halloween season of its release – unsettling, albeit shot through with true beauty courtesy of the band's trademark harmonies. Bassist GEORGE BUNNELL takes the lead vocal, unspooling a tale of primal fear punctuated by keening, trippy guitar solos from BARTEK and ANDERSON. Beneath the “Monsters” metaphor lies something deeper, as lyricist and collaborator since 1969 David Glück explains: “The lyrics explore the lingering impact of fear, trauma, or anxiety—both in childhood and adulthood. It begins with classic childhood fears of monsters in the dark, hinting at a deeper, perhaps metaphorical threat. Despite being told to dismiss these fears as childish, the feelings persist and evolve over time.”

“As the song progresses, the fear becomes internalized and projected onto someone else—possibly a loved one, authority figure, or even the self—revealing how deeply rooted and unchanged these fears have become. The repeated refrain 'it's still the same' underscores a sense of inescapability, showing that time hasn’t healed the emotional wounds. The final verses turn personal, suggesting betrayal or transformation in someone close, who now embodies the very fear the narrator tried to outgrow.” Heady stuff for pop music, but an ideal meeting place for psychedelia and psychodrama, and the band brings it all together in a breathtakingly original package. The song is already a key part of the band's live set, having been performed as recently as January 2025 at a sold-out show at the Whisky in LA.

The B-side, “White Light,” is if anything even more tense. Sung by RANDY SEOL, it's a journey of another kind, full of musical hairpin turns evocative of the best prog rock and a questing sensibility characteristic of the '60s generation but never more relevant in the 21st Century. “Where am I going? What will I do when I get there? Will I get tired of it too?” Seol sings, but there's a redemptive strain that develops as well throughout the song. It's brilliant to hear STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK in such an exploratory and cathartic mode, just a few years shy of their 60th anniversary, and a thrilling sign of things to come as the band completes the recording of a new full-length album to be released next year.

“Monsters” was always planned by STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK as a release for the Halloween season, and thus it fits perfectly with Big Stir Records' month-long celebration of the Spooky Season: it's included on the Double-LP Vinyl, CD and Streaming editions of the label's very special, all-new multi-artist collection of scary songs CHILLING, THRILLING HOOKS AND HAUNTED HARMONIES,out one week after the single. That means that not only have STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK delivered a future seasonal classic sure to be revisited for many Octobers to come, they'll also have a brand new tune on wax for the first time since their original run.

It won't be the last. In 2026, the STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK will strike once again, and the time will be... now.