Liquid Mike, The five-piece alternative rock / power-pop breakout from Marquette, Michigan made their surprise mark with the release of their self-titled debut, or S/T in 2023, which quickly caught the attention of both music critics and randoms on the internet alike for its hook-heavy heartland power-pop. The band proved they were capable of doing more with a minute than most can do with 3 in their short hook laden alternative rock anthems. Now, Liquid Mike are gearing up to release their upcoming follow-up sophomore LP titled, Paul Bunyan's Slingshot, which finds Liquid Mike damn-near-perfecting their lightning-in-a-bottle sound. The 13 tracks on the forthcoming LP are as sticky as molasses yet compact enough that it never once feels half-baked. Its blistering and high-energy theatrics put a lighthearted spin on the working-class, Midwestern life that these songs so brilliantly capture.

In November 2023, Liquid Mike shared the "thematic centerpiece of the record" in "Mouse Trap" alongside an interview with Stereogum's Band to Watch series. Stereogum called the track a "grungy, Toadies-riffing lament about Midwestern living and wondering whether there is something more out there than a house, a dog, and some bullshit promise about the American Dream." One of the highlights from Paul Bunyan's Slingshot arrived in December 2023 called "K2," a ripping anthem about the things kids do in a poor town just to catch a high. Maple sings of the choking game and synthetic weed, reflecting on how weirdly inescapable that kind of stuff was where he grew up. And this month, the band released its most recent single "American Caveman" another head bobbing emotionally charged alternative rock ear worm. All three singles can be streamed below.

About the title of the new LP, the album is named for an obscure art piece that someone in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan made before a teenager randomly, drunkenly cut it in half one night. Mike explains: "I've always thought it was funny how many Midwest towns claim to be the home of Paul Bunyan or have some sort of connection to him because they're always the smallest little towns. This album is about living in a place like that."