Toronto art-punk quartet Bad Waitress have returned with “I Only Like You When I’m Drunk”, the second single from their forthcoming album In The Hollow. Released on 2 October, the track offers another glimpse of the band’s increasingly abrasive sound ahead of the album’s arrival on 30 October 2026 via Stomp Records.
Bad Waitress Turn an Uncomfortable Attraction Into Art-Punk
Following August single “Lovin’ Kind”, “I Only Like You When I’m Drunk” pushes further into the uncomfortable emotional territory at the heart of the new record.
Running for two minutes and 47 seconds, the song combines art punk, garage punk and post-punk tension while examining intoxication, attraction and self-disgust.
At its centre is a deliberately uncomfortable contradiction. The title initially resembles a throwaway joke, but the lyrics quickly move into darker territory.
“You horrify me / Make everything shit around me,” Kali-Ann Butala declares at the beginning, before acknowledging that the attraction remains despite that contempt.
Desire is presented as intrusive and embarrassing rather than romantic, becoming increasingly difficult for the narrator to understand.
Jagged Guitars and an Increasingly Unstable Refrain
Bad Waitress reflect that confusion through an intentionally unsettled performance. Katelyn Molgard and Butala provide the guitars, with Nicole Cain on bass and Moon on drums.
The track repeatedly returns to its central refrain: “I only like you when I’m drunk / I only like you when I’m fucked up and crazy.”
As the song develops, its language becomes increasingly fragmented. The repeated line “I’m fucked up on the decline” transforms what begins as an uncomfortable confession into something approaching a moment of release.
That collision between confrontation, humour and catharsis has been a recurring feature of Bad Waitress’ music.
From Toronto’s Punk Underground to International Stages
The group emerged from Toronto’s punk scene with 2018’s Party Bangers: Volume 1, before moving towards heavier and more jagged territory on their 2021 album No Taste.
Their combination of noise, humour and confrontation has subsequently taken them beyond Canada’s underground circuit.
Bad Waitress have shared stages with acts including Fucked Up, L7, Rise Against, Wolf Parade and The Bronx, while their sound has drawn comparisons with bands ranging from The Stooges and Fugazi to Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
‘In The Hollow’ Examines Isolation, Identity and Change
In The Hollow was recorded with engineer Josh Korody at Wychwood Sound in Toronto and produced by Bad Waitress.
The album follows a five-year period in which the four musicians experienced different forms of isolation and personal change. According to the band’s account of the record, relationships and memories began to appear differently with distance, while questions surrounding gender, sexuality and identity became clearer.
Rather than presenting those experiences as straightforward moments of revelation, the album focuses on the more complicated process of recognising what no longer fits and confronting uncertainty about what comes next.
“I Only Like You When I’m Drunk” captures that process at one of its least comfortable points.
There is no narrator looking back safely from the other side of a destructive relationship. Instead, the song remains inside the contradiction: repelled by an attraction but unable to escape it, with intoxication providing temporary distance from the conflict.
A Different Side of Bad Waitress’ New Album
The single provides a notably different preview of In The Hollow from “Lovin’ Kind”.
While the earlier track kept intimacy at a distance, “I Only Like You When I’m Drunk” is immersed in it. Both songs explore desire and self-preservation, but the latest release presents those themes in a messier and more volatile form.
The wider album similarly avoids offering a straightforward account of how Bad Waitress have changed during the five years between records. Instead, it considers the relationships, instincts and earlier versions of ourselves that can remain present even as circumstances change.
With In The Hollow due on 30 October, “I Only Like You When I’m Drunk” presents Bad Waitress at their most conflicted, combining jagged punk instrumentation with an unflinching examination of attraction, resentment and impaired judgement.
George Orwell is a writer and contributor covering politics, society, culture, and current affairs. His work focuses on providing clear analysis and thoughtful commentary on the issues shaping modern Britain and the wider world, helping readers better understand complex topics.