Des Moines trio Greg Wheeler And The Poly Mall Cops have returned with their new single and video “Slimephone (You Can’t Hide),” the first taste of their forthcoming second album Slimephone Surveillance, out on October 24 via High Dive Records. The track pairs fuzzed-out guitar riffs with pounding rhythms to deliver a biting reflection on the grip of modern technology and the strange ways privacy has been surrendered in the digital age.

The band — Greg Wheeler (vocals/guitar), Jill Erin McLain (bass/vocals), and Hutch (drums) — channel raw garage-punk energy into a song that is as sharp as it is infectious. Written and recorded in the band’s own basement, Slimephone Surveillance builds on the spirit of their 2023 debut Manic Fever. While that record was shaped during the isolation of the pandemic, the new album carries a fresher urgency, confronting the reality of living in a world wired with constant surveillance and disconnection.

The video for “Slimephone (You Can’t Hide)” expands on the song’s theme with a darkly playful concept. Shot and edited in the same basement where the album was created, it finds the Poly Mall Cops stationed in a mall security room, spying on Wheeler through a bank of screens while he performs the track. Directed by Anthony Scanga, who also provided the photography for the album’s artwork, the visual captures both the paranoia and humor that run through the song.

With their sound rooted in the grit of vintage punk but reframed through a 21st-century lens, Greg Wheeler And The Poly Mall Cops turn everyday anxieties into combustible rock anthems. Slimephone Surveillance promises a continuation of that mission, combining high-energy riffs, basement-born DIY ethos, and sharp-eyed commentary on the state of modern life.

In contrast to the lengthy, stop-start process that shaped Manic Fever, the new album was created with a sense of immediacy. Wheeler and company approached writing and recording with fewer constraints, letting their instincts lead the way. That urgency bleeds into every track, giving the record a raw spark that feels both timely and timeless.

Slimephone Surveillance is out October 24 on High Dive Records, with limited edition vinyl available for preorder now.