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“Though the title may portend doom, Popof shows no fear, flying through this full-length while displaying a confident and unabashed approach…. End of Greatness is an intelligent and delightful affair.” –Wes Barker, Amplifier Magazine
Fibronostalgia, the new album from Kowtow Popof, is the conclusion of a trilogy which started with 2020’s Action Figure, followed by A Punk’s Garden of Versus in 2023. While the first installment found a muse in childhood heroes, and the middle part observed the loneliness of the long-distance DIY-er, Fibronostalgia delves into the notion that we are paralyzed by our past — that somehow the best years of our lives are behind us, and the only way forward is backward. Our reckless convictions leave us stranded in an us-versus-them mentality, forever egged on by fake prophets and on-the-take profiteers.
Kowtow evokes some of his own history to paint this picture of the present. He borrows the titles of the songs “Countdown in Bedlam” and “Populations of the Heart” from his Uncle Walter, a one-time civil servant and poet. He meets our longing for older times head on in “Closer to Yesterday,” and surveys a life of historic obscurity in “Cutout Hazzbin.”
In “Ruin Everything,” Kowtow snaps out of his subterranean homesickness long enough to entertain an idea he never thought he could imagine. Today’s chaos has a way of doing that.
But in the end, Fibronostalgia embraces a hope for the future, where there are no sides to choose, and we aren’t defined by zeroes and ones. Strange as it may seem, people are alike all over. It’s just that we get pulled in a multitude of directions, by choice and by chance, and more often than not, we all seem to wind up pursuing the high ground when we should be seeking the common one. Maybe Fibronostalgia is a cure for that.
Over drums-bass-guitar arrangements that mingle power pop, blues, and folk, Kowtow pleads his case. As he sings in the album’s closer, “It’s never too late to know when you’re wrong.” Or, perhaps, when you’re right.
Released on June 26, 2026.
Also available from Wampus: A Punk’s Garden of Versus, Action Figure, Tastes Like Armageddon, Exalted Headband, End of Greatness, Eat My Dust, Coaster, Songs from the Pointless Forest, and more.
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