Ekko Astral - "lil xan goes to washington"

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Photo by Alec Pugliese

For their upcoming album, Washington DC's Ekko Astral get political... in a way that only they can. According to the press release, the beltway is burning, "... plays out like a vignette, with Ekko Astral beckoning listeners into their fictionalized version of The Beltway (the area within I-495), in which Adam Sandler is a god-president and the DMV has become a demilitarized zone, a wasteland run by butt rockers and Soundcloud rappers." The first single, "lil xan goes to washington," is a burst of post-punk chaos with an almost whimsical sound. I think this would fit into the "laugh so you don't scream" side of things, and the song is one of the most fun and party ready political anthems we've heard in the past year. It's weird calling this song fun, but it could be exactly what you need right now. The aggression does come bursting out in a blast of noise towards the end, giving the song an LCD Soundsystem meets Sonic Youth vibe.

Liam Hughes of Ekko Astral says of the band's latest single:

"In times when Nicki Minaj is tight with the president, it feels right that Lil Xan becomes a lobbyist. This song was pulled out of thin air in the studio while most of the album was written and ready to record beforehand. We only had the lyrics finished for this one. But once we started messing around, the music wrote itself in minutes, and we all knew we had something special." 

You can watch the video for "lil xan goes to washington" below. the beltway is burning is due out April 22 on Topshelf Records. For more on Ekko Astral, check out the band on Instagram. Upcoming tour dates are below the video and include June 2 at Machines With Magnets in Providence, RI and June 3 at The Rockwell in Somerville, MA.


  • February 14, 2026 - New York, NY @ Baby's All Right *
  • March 27, 2026 - Boise, ID @ Treefort Music Fest
  • March 26, 2026 - Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile **
  • March 28, 2026 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater **
  • March 30, 2026 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel **
  • March 31, 2026 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater **
  • April 25, 2026 - Washington, D.C. @ Liberation Weekend / Black Cat 
  • May 29, 2026 - Kingston, NY @ Tubby's ***
  • May 30, 2026 - Burlington, VT @ The Monkey House ***
  • May 31, 2026 - Portland, ME @ SPACE ***
  • June 2, 2026 - Providence, RI @ Machines With Magnets 
  • June 3, 2026 - Boston, MA @ The Rockwell 
  • June 5, 2026 - New York, NY @ Night Club 101 
  • June 6, 2026 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA 

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