Post Animal Unleashes Their Inner Child With “Iron”
Album Review ★ Kenzie Gay ★ @kenzwrites ★ 800 Words
Within the current surge of indie rock music that’s been on the up and up since the 2010s resides Chicago’s own Post Animal. At a first glance, it may seem that they’re just another band in the thousands upon thousands of indie rockers trying to go platinum but if you look deeper there is true heart, soul, and individuality that sets them far apart from the rest.
Composed of Dalton Allison, Jake Hirshland, Javier Reyes, Wesley Toledo, and Matt Williams, Post Animal not only announced their 5th studio album earlier this year but they also led onto the fact that Joe Keery (or “Djo” in the music world,) Stranger Things actor and original band member up until 2017, was also rejoining for the album. Recorded in the middle of the woods somewhere in Indiana, Post Animal brings us Iron today on July 25th of 2025.
Iron is reflective of not just the band and its capacity but also the foundation of friendship and connection that got them where they are today. Learn more about the tracks below.
Post Animal, right photo via Courtney Sofiah Yates
For those who listened to Djo’s album from April of this year, The Crux, I like to look at Iron as its little brother. It is fun, explosive, bubbly, and an all around good time. A summer album in its truest form.
Track 2, Last Goodbye, is a fantastic symbol of Iron and what it has to offer. It’s ‘as indie as indie gets’ as I said upon listening for the first time. Packing a vocal punch that rings uncanny to Gerry Rafferty’s prime of the late 1970s, Dalton Allison guides the song through all of its nostalgic charm that includes a slide guitar, a banjo of sorts, and an instrumental solo that’s easy on the ears. It’s uplifting and light unlike many indie rock hitters, which is a consistent theme across all 10 songs.
Another notable aspect of Iron is Setting Sun and its following number, Pie in the Sky. Setting Sun is the most rock n roll centered piece off of Iron with its dreamy atmosphere that creates a unique foundation that’s almost dystopian much in thanks to the synth via Malcolm Brown and Jake Hirshland. This cuts into the twinkly, 60s heavy style that makes up Pie in the Sky. Pie in the Sky, though, cranks things to a groovier, funkadelic approach at things with each member’s vocals posing similar to The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The harmonies are soothing not to mention impressive and the nature of Summer nearly radiates from it.
Dorien Kregg, track 8, is another piece I have to focus on. It stands out for its powerful punch and included storyline. Dalton Allison and Jake Hirshland’s leading vocals are done with a sassy intonation that brings the song up a level. Thanks to its guitar, percussion, and synth contributions, too, the piece stands as a mighty force comparable to The Who’s Pinball Wizard. Lyrically, it’s a quirky story that discusses Dorien Kregg, who is “always thinking but got nothing to say, Always dreaming but he’s stuck in his way, Always saving it for some other day, Too late, Too late!”.
Finally, the album’s title track, Iron, closes things out. It’s a bittersweet ending but one that is very well done so the entire record reads (or rather, listens) like a story. This closing number is darker, slower, intimate, and more intense than its previous songs and when again comparing to The Crux, Iron seems to be a distant relative of Egg. The lyrics are gutwrenching but reflective all in one with lines such as “You said ‘Iron sharpens Iron,’ But a blade is still a blade, Were we real or just unbridled? Guess I thought they were the same We are, Aging, But what’s different is we’re growing apart. And if iron sharpens iron, And we’re better off as friends, Something’s better than nothing, I will take what I can get”.
Generally speaking, Iron is a greatly spunky album unlike anything I’ve heard in quite some time (excluding The Crux, of course). It’s a delightfully youthful listen of absurdity that I could see as the soundtrack for The Muppets which, of course, is one of the highest compliments I could give a band as a lifelong Henson fan. Joe Keery, Dalton Allison, Jake Hirshland, Javier Reyes, Wesley Toledo, and Matt Williams did an excellent job at both producing and perfecting this album: I see the future of Indie Rock and guys like these make it bright.
Iron is available now on all streaming platforms and for purchase - it is my professional recommendation that anyone involved with rock, indie, or both gives it a listen (or ten)!
After this monumental release, the guys of Post Animal are set to hit the road opening for and playing with Joe Keery (Djo) this Fall in cities such as Los Angeles, Nashville, Sacramento, and others along with a headlining tour of their own that kicks off November 1st in Detroit. You can find links for tickets and listening below.
