Get Your Ass to Mars: Hit The Lights Return With Cosmic Pop-Punk Fury

For the first time in almost seven years, pop-punk stalwarts Hit The Lights—yes, the same crew behind the 2006 breakout Bodybag—are back with new music. And this time, they’re returning to… save the planet? Or maybe ditch it entirely. Their new EP, Tomorrow’s Gonna Hurt, kicks off with what might be the heaviest track of their career, the cosmic rallying cry “Get Your Ass To Mars.”

The song launches with a lone guitar floating over spacey ambience before a synthy lead pulls you into orbit. It’s a fitting backdrop for the planetary-escape narrative and immediately gives the track a sense of scale. My favorite line, “I can be cynical and still have hope,” distills the whole song’s ethos—fed up with the world but not ready to give up on it. It’s easily the standout opener the EP needed.

The title track, “Tomorrow’s Gonna Hurt,” hooks you from the jump with gorgeous gang vocals and stays vocally driven throughout. A subtle but killer moment arrives in the pre-chorus: right after the line “If the world could slow down, I could get back on my feet again,” the vocal flow suddenly speeds up, mirroring the feeling of life slipping out of your control. It’s a small detail, but the song is full of them. Lyrically, it’s about trying to chase your dreams while also keeping your life from collapsing—and never feeling like you’re doing either well enough.

Track three, “Bleach Away” (ft. Colin Ross), could slide seamlessly onto their debut This Is A Stickup… Don’t Make It A Murder. The guitars are pure vintage HTL—the intro sounds like two guitarists arguing over whose riff is more fun to play—and the energy stays high throughout. When original vocalist Colin Ross comes in, it’s instant nostalgia; suddenly, you’re 16 again, blasting this band in the car with the windows down.

The closer, “Desperate — Grateful,” is devastating in the most beautiful way. It’s a tribute to loved ones lost, grounded in lines like “They’re only just as far as our hearts let them be” and “The love we share is the only thing that matters.” It’s impossible not to think of the people you’ve lost—and the peace that comes with remembering them with love instead of only grief. It’s the most emotionally resonant moment on the EP, and a perfect, tender landing.

In “Bleach Away,” Colin Ross asks, “Was there a smile on my face when you found me?” On Tomorrow’s Gonna Hurt, Hit The Lights will have you strapping into a Mars-bound spaceship with one. 

Let’s just hope the planet they’re aiming for appreciates pop-punk as much as we do.

Hit the Lights are playing some upcoming shows, check out their website here to go into orbit live.