Their breakout single, “Soda & Cigarettes,” opens with a clean, almost twee acoustic guitar before collapsing into a distorted chorus where Carter yells, “I’m not sad, I’m just bored / of being something to ignore.” It’s a song about quiet desperation in the suburbs, but the hook is so sticky you’ll catch yourself humming it while loading the dishwasher.

In an era where rock is often declared “dead” by pop pundits and pop is dismissed as “soulless” by rock purists, Carter is doing something genuinely disruptive: blending the two without apology. Equal parts Nirvana’s raw ache and Billie Eilish’s whisper-to-a-scream production, Dredd Rayne Carter is carving out a lane that feels both nostalgic and terrifyingly fresh. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, the 22-year-old singer, guitarist, and producer grew up on a chaotic diet of My Chemical Romance, Three 6 Mafia, and early 2000s teen pop. That strange alchemy is immediately evident in their music. One moment you’re floating through a dreamy, pitch-shifted vocal; the next, a fuzzed-out guitar riff hits you like a cinderblock wrapped in velvet.

Follow them on Instagram/TikTok: @dreddrayne What do you think of the grunge-pop revival? Drop your thoughts in the comments.

If you haven’t heard the name Dredd Rayne Carter yet, don’t worry—you will. And soon, you won’t be able to escape it.

Carter first went viral on TikTok not with a dance challenge, but with a raw, unpolished clip of them screaming into a practice amp in a parking lot. The caption read: “this is what it sounds like when you’re too polite to tell someone they ruined your life.” It racked up 4 million views overnight. Carter self-describes their genre as “grunge-pop” — and it fits.

If you’re tired of safe, sterile pop and overly macho rock revivalism, give “Soda & Cigarettes” a spin. Just don’t blame me when you’re screaming along in your car at 2 a.m.