Toronto post-grunge/nu-metal outfit Chain Strikers keep moving forward with their third single, “Broken Bones,” released on July 4, 2025. The track is part of the growing world of their future full-length, even if it still arrives as a standalone single for now.
After exploring psychological prisons and spiritual tension on “Try To Cage Me” and “Rust,” this time the band turns their gaze backwards – toward memory, regret, and the stories we wish we had lived.
Faster, Louder, and Restless
Musically, “Broken Bones” is the band at their most energetic and punk-driven so far.
Drawing inspiration from bands like Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Rise Against, and Green Day, the song leans into:
- Faster, tightly wound rhythms
- Gritty guitars with a raw, almost garage-like edge
- A vocal delivery that feels both melodic and frustrated
- A sense of restless urgency running through the whole track
If “Rust” felt like being stuck in a slow, suffocating nightmare, “Broken Bones” sounds like trying to outrun your own thoughts – sprinting through the past, wishing you could rewrite pieces of it.
Regret, Memory, and the Stories We Don’t Have
At the emotional core of “Broken Bones” is a simple, haunting wish:
“I wish I had more broken bones
I wish I had more stories to tell”
It’s not just about physical scars, but about experiences — the feeling that life might have passed by a little too quietly, leaving fewer stories, fewer risks, fewer mistakes to look back on.
Throughout the song, the narrator keeps circling one unresolved question:
“It was so long ago
So long for me to recall
Recall something I’ll never know
If what they did was right”
There’s a sense of looking back at decisions made long ago — by other people, in another time — and never fully knowing if things should have been different. The lyrics touch that familiar space where childhood, family choices, and the passing of time all blur together.
Rather than pointing fingers or trying to assign blame, “Broken Bones” sits in that grey area:
the ache of not knowing, of wondering what kind of person you would be if things had gone another way, or if you’d spent less time playing it safe.
It’s personal and introspective, but open enough for anyone who has ever questioned whether they truly lived the years that are now gone.
Spring Recording, Same DIY Spirit
“Broken Bones” continues Chain Strikers’ homegrown approach.
- Recorded at home in Toronto during the spring of 2025
- Written and produced by: Marcelo Barreto
- Mixed by: Abel Delgado – follow his work at @abeldelgado.av
The track channels the band’s heavier roots into a more punk-rock, forward-driving structure, showing another side of what the upcoming album might become — more tempo, more bite, but still loaded with emotional weight.
Time, Bone, and Heart: The “Broken Bones” Artwork
The cover art for “Broken Bones” pulls all of these ideas together into a single, striking image.
On one side, skeletal hands clutch an hourglass, as if trying to hold on to the last grains of time. On the other, a vivid ribcage and heart glow with electric color, suggesting a body still very much alive — pulsing, feeling, remembering.
The bones feel fragile, the hourglass relentless, the heart caught between them.
It’s a visual metaphor for what the song hints at:
- The tension between time running out and the desire to have lived more
- The weight of the past resting on the body
- The wish for more scars, more broken bones, more proof that you were really there
Another Piece of the Chain
With “Broken Bones,” Chain Strikers add a new color to their growing catalogue:
- “Try To Cage Me” fought against invisible chains.
- “Rust” accepted the slow decay of time and the prison of the mind.
- “Broken Bones” looks back and wonders what could have been different — and whether we’ll ever truly know if the path chosen for us was the right one.
It’s faster, more immediate, and driven by punk energy, but still rooted in the same world of memory, faith, regret, and the fear of wasting time.
For anyone who’s ever looked back and wondered if they really lived the years that slipped away, “Broken Bones” is your soundtrack.