Photo by Georgina Richardson.

Demoted is Cullen Gallagher (vox/guitar), Phil Harrington (bass), and Chris Hopkins (drums). Demoted goes back to a self-deprecatingly titled folder on Cullen's hard drive in 2013, where he stored demos unused by his band at the time, Night Squad. Jump ahead a few years, Cullen dusts off the old folder of one-man-band demos and self-releases an EP, No Use (2021).  The following year, the rest of the demos are released by Fuzzy Warbles Cassettes as Not Myself Today (2022). That album lead to the formation of a full band with Cullen's old Squad compadre, Phil. Rounding out the lineup on drums was Chris Hopkins, who used to play guitar and sing in Anti-Difranco (wonderful weirdos from the 2010s NYC hardcore scene). Demoted's most recent album is Shit for Brains, self-released in 2023 and re-released in 2024 by Bad Channels Records. The art is done by another NYC hardcore scene buddy, Pele Uriel (Feces, Contract, Swinging Riot).


"Demoted are raw power and angst in the best possible way. I keep thinking of this record in the vein of a slightly more melodic My War-era Black Flag sound, and I hope that’s not too pigeonholing. And for the record, the closing track “Demoted” is the best angry punk rock song I’ve heard in a month of Sundays. All told, this is nifty little package that, once it sinks its fangs in you, will bring all your black-hearted anger and frustration burbling to the surface."—The Lord Kveldulfr, Razorcake

"Brooklyn’s Demoted has a rough and immediate DIY sound. Simple, but carefully composed."—Maximum Rocknroll

"An excellent hardcore punk record with some great songs, imbued with a raw power that is difficult to find today, to the point that it seems catapulted into 2024 from another era....The pieces are quite varied and unafraid of slowdowns and tempo changes reminiscent of Black Flag, which I really appreciate."—Marco Borgatti, In Your Eyes Zine (Italy)

"Really cool that a band like this exists in 2024. This band from Brooklyn, NY could have easily been playing shows in the 80's with L.A. bands like Modern Warfare, Secret Hate & Rhino 39. Skewed as fukk Punk Rock with completely angular & twisted guitar lines."—The Switchblade New Wave


Contact: demotedband@gmail.com