As you could gather from the song title “We Forgot the Records to Our Record Release Show”, Needs might not be the most organized bunch of punks.

Still, though inspired by the band neglecting to bring copies of 2013’s Rare Earths to a celebratory concert, the hard-hitting track isn’t entirely played for self-deprecating laughs. Back when the blunder happened, vocalist Sean Orr was thrown into an existential tailspin, this sparked by finding himself playing in a hardcore band in his mid-30s.

“I’m still pretending I’m this young guy and holding on to this ideal from my 20s of the hardcore scene: putting out your own records, playing these small venues. But is this good? Should I get a real fucking job?” Orr recalls. “The key line in that song is ‘What am I missing?’ What’s the alternative?”

The track, pulled from Needs’ upcoming self-titled full-length, ends up being an antimeathead tirade in the grand tradition of the Dead Kennedys’ “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”. Orr screams his allegiance to the underground instead of to the mindless aggression and show-me-your-tits misogyny of suburban “chongos”. “I’m not afraid any longer,” he shouts defiantly, referring to the kind of characters that would chase him back when he was a skateboarding teen growing up in Surrey.

Sitting inside Gastown’s busy Timbertrain Coffee Roasters, but skipping out on a cup of java, Orr notes that fear is a big part of Needs’ new album. He points to how the quintet—which also includes guitarists Derek Adam and Colin Spensley, bassist Glenn Alderson, and drummer Devin O’Rourke—has put together something “sonically terrifying”.

Needs accomplishes this with 10 eruptions of frenetically entwined riffs, manic-panic howling, and drums that crash like a brick through a car windshield. Early-’90s outfit Nation of Ulysses is a good touchstone, but Needs’ “Walk, Cycle or Take Transit Like Jehu” connects the dots more directly to long-gone San Diego noiseniks Drive Like Jehu.

Orr gets the dread out on opener “Rescue Don”, which has him waxing about mortality above Alderson’s razor-sharp groove. Elsewhere, “Clowns to the Left of Me, Dzhokars to the Right” is a pressure cooker of punk tension reflecting on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings and media-fuelled paranoia.

“It’s always in the back of your mind, being afraid of death. Afraid of living, too. Afraid of your own potential. I think it’s something that’s all-pervasive in life. I think if you’re not afraid, maybe you’re not paying attention.”

Another big concern of the album’s is Vancouver’s unaffordable real estate. On “The Only Good Condo Is a Dead Condo”, Needs draws listeners in with a sneakily subdued intro where Orr uses a mock-western drawl to state, “It costs so much just to live in this town.” With rents skyrocketing and pricey high-rises replacing modest housing around town, his defeated tone may hit home with a lot of people in the Lower Mainland.

“If you’re in a conversation long enough, it turns to real estate and the cost of living. It’s something everyone can relate to,” the singer says. “When I first said that [in practice], I looked around and I could tell that it struck a chord with the band immediately. It’s a really powerful thing to sing: ‘From where I’m from, it’s like they don’t want me around.’ Sometimes it feels like that.”

Society’s not all bad, though. “Did You Just Call Me Lord Fuckhead?” gives a bit of hope to those looking to cope with the dark days (“We gotta live with this mess,” Orr offers). Still, the singer has been contemplating the efficacy of punk politicking.

“I feel a lot more hopeless about creating real change through the electoral system or through activism. I feel like I’m just screaming at a wall a lot of times,” Orr says. “I’ll still scream at the wall, it’s good for me. It’s very personal and cathartic. But as far as ‘Is it ever going to affect or change anyone listening to it?’ or if there’s any message to gain, I don’t know.”

People are listening, though. After issuing a pair of EPs on its own, Needs is now backed by Canadian indie imprint File Under: Music, and the record has already received early buzz via NPR and The Strombo Show.

Needs has also garnered acclaim for its high-octane performances, which are often steered by Orr’s antics. You’ll have to ask someone else about the specifics, though, as the frontman often doesn’t remember what happens on-stage.

“Apparently, I pretended to take a shit in a garbage can at South by Southwest at the Music B.C. showcase,” he says with a bewildered laugh of one particular blackout moment. “Before I did that, I grabbed it and pulled down my pants. Apparently, I was playing with myself pretty hard, too; I do some gross shit. Then I always go back to the merch booth and I wonder why no one buys anything.”

It’s an entertaining story, but a skeptic could probably poke a couple of holes in it. For one, there’s an argument to be made that Needs sometimes forgets to bring its merch to shows.

Needs plays its record-release show at Fortune Sound Club next Thursday (May 14).