AyoDylan's New EP "Knuckle Head" and Upcoming Tour

Pop-punk Artist AyoDylan just released his thrashy, energetic, and addictive new EP “Knuckle Head” on March 15, 2026. This comes just months before an upcoming tour with Nathan James, in which AyoDylan will be featured on several dates.

All About “Knuckle Head”

If there’s one simple way to describe the “Knuckle Head” EP, it would be high-octane. Powerful and quick rhythms blend well with thrashy guitar lines and growly, belted vocals. Though it rests in the pop punk genre, much of its sound falls more into the punk edge, which provides a gritty energy. The EP as a whole was made to give people a sense of confidence and help them find motivation. It does well at that, and as it moves along, it uses pop culture references to build into a catchy sound. Each song included proves this to be true. It could serve as the perfect album to prepare for the day, work out, drive around, mosh or even skate (you know, like Chris Joslin?) to.

“Knuckle Head” starts with the track, “Chris Joslin.” This song is based on the legendary tre flip that Joslin did at the El Toro High School stair set in Lake Forest, California, but it’s also primarily about following one’s dreams. As an opener, it works astoundingly as a hook, establishing the rapid-fire guitars and drums with powerful, growly vocals. It establishes the EP as pop-punk with more of a punk lean and hardcore influences. There’s enough melody to bring a catchiness to things, but it also has an anthemic shout, especially in the chorus.

This then leads to the track, “Jane from Breaking Bad,” another track with another cultural reference, this one especially notable to older Gen Z and younger Millennial individuals. In terms of music, it has a similar grit and fast pacing. The backing harmonies play well into bringing it to life, and it’s about a girl who looks like, you know, Jane from Breaking Bad. As it gets into things, it acknowledges the broken aspects of her, but it still finds beauty in them. “Meet up inside the bathroom, use the light, and make sure we're okay / You always make the imperfections and my worries fade away,” a couple of lines in the bridge go.

Then comes “Her or The Guitar.” This track has really great instrumental portions and gives extra highlight to the bass drive. Also, there’s an absolutely fire guitar solo right after the intro, that lasts for much of the song. This comes right after the lyrics,  “She told me it was her or the guitar, so I said,” which gives a playful punch to chuckle at. Based on how it flows, it seems to tackle the narrative of not letting anyone make someone choose them instead of one’s own dreams. At one minute and twelve seconds in length, it makes a really great impact with a short span of time. 

“Knuckle Head” then concludes with “Kurt Cobain (Play It Faster).” Funny enough, though this one has fast moments, it feels the least forceful of the four. This one has an anthemic chorus, and like much of the rest of the EP, it begs to be chanted along to. Lyrically, it acknowledges feelings of not being amazing at guitar or singing in tune. But, it is also more about having a DIY edge and making music for the love of it. The main message of the song stands out as being about the creation of art and how anyone can do it, no matter where their skills lie.

All in all, this EP has a lot of grit, but it’s also fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. Though it is fun, important messages lie beneath the folds that may help others find the confidence to chase what they want to. It’s super creative, and it has bouts of nostalgic references that make it notable and memorable. “Knuckle Head” is for sure a must listen!

AyoDylan’s Appearances on the Nathan James Tour

Indie metal artist will be kicking off his Built To Last tour in June in West Hollywood, in which he will be covering much of the West Coast. In this tour, AyoDylan will be a supporting act on several dates. You can find links to each concert featuring AyoDylan on his personal site. The following list shares the dates and locations of each AyoDylan appearance.

June 1 - The Rebel Lounge in Phoenix, AZ

June 3 - The Roxy Theater in Denver, CO

June 4 - Liquid Joe’s in Salt Lake City, UT

June 5 - Big Papa’s in Twin Falls, ID

June 6 - Midtown Ballroom in Bend, OR

June 7 - Jazz Bones in Tacoma, WA

Who is AyoDylan?

AyoDylan is a South Florida-based pop punk and alt-rock artist with heavier influences who tells a message of enthusiastically following one’s dreams. His Spotify brings light to his emotional storytelling, and “Knuckle Head” shows that this storytelling can also be enjoyable. Also, he currently has over 65k monthly listeners, and he’s amassed more than a million streams on his previous “Betty White” EP. Not to mention, he has over 50 million hits across his social media accounts. AyoDylan is an artist who’s been making a splash with his infectious sound, and it isn’t a sound to be missed. Now is the time to play his songs, because he’s playing them faster!