FIDLAR - Down N Out

 

1. Who are FIDLAR?

FIDLAR are an influential garage/punk/surf rock band from Los Angeles, California. They have played together since 2009 and have never managed to better their high-tide mark of the lead single from their second album 40 Oz On Repeat (2015). Down N Out (July, 2024) is one of a few singles from their fifth album Surviving The Dream (Sept, 2024). 

2. What has Down N Out got going for it? 

Down N Out is a little bit of a return to form, a sweet surf-pop Beach Boys-style tune done by a garage band that have lost relevance and the sun is setting down on their backs. The spoken-word breakdown is putrid and indicative of a band stripped clean of ideas.  The lyrics are fucking whiny too. But all told Down N Out isn't completely vile; it remains passable for the intro that has a spectral sense of urgency, it's playful bouncy pop tone, and for the ghostly echoes of the excitement this band once conjured. 

3. Which bands do FIDLAR sound like? 

SWMRS, WAVVES, Bass Drum of Death, and The Frights. 

4. Which bands influenced FIDLAR? 

The Black Lips, Beastie Boys, Weezer, and The Hives. 

5. What is the word on the street about Down N Out?

"A sunburnt surf punk track with propulsive guitars and tongue-in-cheek spoken-word banter" - Prelude Press. 

"Sounds like classic FIDLAR" - Punk News. 

"An excellent single" - Kerrang! 

"Nodding out in a car,

Cause I don't give a fuck"

FIDLAR - Alcohol

1.    Who are FIDLAR?

FIDLAR are a punk band from Los Angeles who have recorded two albums. Alcohol (April'18) is a stand alone single.

2. What kind of track is Alcohol?

Alcohol is a hard rocking number as subtle as a cunt punt. Pissed Jeans' The Bar Is Low meets Beastie Boy's No Sleep Till Brooklyn. A throbbing chorus full of cock rock aggression that builds to a yell-along gang chorus. Primitive.

3. Who do FIDLAR sound like?

SWMRS, The Orwells, and WAVVES.

4. What is the good word from the press?

“Raw and unconfined and goofily fun” – Stereogum.

“You can’t be more direct than this punk fierce anthem” – Rock NYC.

“A gut-puncher” – Far Out.

5. Which bands lit their fire?

Beastie Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Black Flag, The Black Lips, and Jay Reatard.

6. Why should I listen to Alcohol?

You are a FIDLAR fan. You like a song that can't count past it's fingers and toes.

7. What other bangers do these lads have?

Why Generation and 40 oz On Repeat.

8. Any more words?

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong is credited by FIDLAR singer Zac Carper with helping him quit heroin. Voice of experience I suppose. Talking about junkies FIDLAR did a killer cover of Nirvana's Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle. 

“I love waking up in some randoms home,

And I’ll pack a cone and hit it to the dome”

VANT are a political punk band from London, England. Talk Like Thunder is the title track from their mini-album Talk Like Thunder (October'17). VANT sound like Spring King and FIDLAR although Talk Like Thunder has a more mainstream Britpop sound not completely unlike Blur or Oasis and is more delicately constructed than the bangers from their debut album. 

“Tell me the meaning of life,
Is it in the water-flow, the baby-grow, or mortgaged home,
Or in the smile of your debt ridden wife?”

The 30 Best Indie Rock Songs of 2016 (30 - 21)

No fucking about, here are the 30 best indie rock songs of 2016.

30. PUP - DVP 

PUP are a punk band from Toronto, Canada. They sound like The Bronx and Weezer. DVP (Feb'16) is the song you get seriously fucked up to pre-loading before a dangerous night on the town. A headbanging rush.

29. The Frights - Kids 

The Frights are a surf/garage band from San Diego, California. They sound like SWMRS and Wavves. Kids (Jan'16) is a scathing garage rocker with a poppy beat. Snarky fun.

28. CANVAS - Gold 

CANVAS are an electronic indie rock band from Toronto, Canada. They sound like E.L.O. and Cheap Trick. Gold (Jan'16) saunters along on one fat riff smelling of last nights whiskey and then turns soft and psychedelic. 

27. Beach Slang - Punks At A Disco Bar

Beach Slang are a punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They sound like Gaslight Anthem and Japandroids. Punks At A Disco Bar (July'16) is a punk anthem that enters on a guitar-only riff and then rolls along mid-tempo, all impassioned vocals but no fat or flourishes. 

26. Japandroids - Near To The Wild Heart Of Life 

Japandroids are an indie rock band from Vancouver, Canada. They sound like Death From Above 1979 or Titus Andronicus. Near To The Wild Heart Of Life (Nov'16) is a passionate rock song that will get you fired up to pursue your dreams. 

25. Pretty Vicious - National Plastics 

Pretty Vicious are a punk band from Merthyr, Wales. They sound like early Manic Street Preachers and Oasis. National Plastics (Oct'15) is an incendiary ball breaker that rocks harder than a jailhouse rapist's erection. 

24. FIDLAR - Why Generation 

FIDLAR are a surf/garage punk band from Los Angeles, California. They sound like SWMRS and The Orwells. Why Generation (Feb'16) is a garage rocker and a mosh pit bone breaker with something to say. 

23. The Bay Rays - New House 

The Bay Rays are an indie rock'n'roll band from Tunbridge Wells, England. They sound like The Fratellis and The Vaccines. New House (June'16) is a barn burning rock'n'roller as infectious as a Thai hooker's taint at three in the morning. 

22. The Rifles - Wall Around Your Heart 

The Rifles are an indie rock band from London, England. They sound like The Vaccines and The Jam. Wall Around Your Heart (July'16) meshes elements of punk with modern refined songwriting and production to create passionate pop rock.

 
21. Beware Of Darkness - Dope 

Beware Of Darkness are an indie rock band from Santa Barbara, California. They sound like The Family Rain and The Arctic Monkeys. Dope (July'16) is a classic rock/bluesy stomper that sports riffs as sticky as two hobos fucking in a puddle of piss.

FIDLAR - Why Generation

1.   Who are these piss holes giving the finger?

FIDLAR are a ‘wanks on planks’ garage punk band from Los Angeles, USA. The lads have been stirring shit, and been on it, since 2009. Why Generation (Feb’16) is the fifth single released from their second long player Too (Sept'15).

2.   So what kind of tune do we have here?

After showing signs of great promise, finally, a pearler.  A mellow garage punk groover with a noisy chorus and a god honest, albeit brief, lead guitar break followed by some surfy lines in the coda.

3. Who do FIDLAR sound like?

Twin Peaks, SWMRS, GHOSTS, The Orwells and Public Access TV spring to mind.

Some say Wavves are the go to band. Thanks Pitchfork, I was asleep at the wheel. On that topic, FIDLAR were asked if they thought they are similar to The Orwells. The answer was “fuck no.” But the good oil is King Tuff and Bass Drum Of Death.

4. What is the good word from the press?

About the single Why Generation, Consequnce Of Sound drew a big, big, big bow, calling it “a smartly layered commentary for a song about millennial struggles and failures.” Someone get me a hankie for my eyes, I laughed so hard I cried. Spin Magazine weren't over enthused “a weird little detour into the British Invasion,” they sniffed.

About the album Too, some semblance of sanity returned over at COS as they commented on the “tight riffs and jangly power pop melodies,” before losing the plot again sure the album is,“as trashy and as thrasy as they come.” Oh shit, I didn't piss myself this time but I did dribble a bit. Muppets. Clash Music came to the rescue lauding “a fantastic second effort” and the “catchy riffs and partying.” Spin were feeling the “throaty barks and feedback-shot riffs,” while Pitchfork hit the nail on the head “a crisper, almost radio-friendly effort.”

5. Who are FIDLAR’s influences?

FIDLAR's influences are Black Flag, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wu-Tang Clan, The Beastie Boys, Elton John, The Band, Thee Oh Sees, The Black Lips, Jay Reatard, The Pixies, The Everly Brothers, Sam Cooke and Toto. Toto? A recent Spotify list from the band is smoking. Standouts include Sublime, Suicidal Tendencies, Warren Zevon, Black Sabbath and Creedance Clearwater Revival.


 6. Why should I give Why Generation a go?

Having a pop at phone obsession and singing about contemporary anxieties is to be celebrated and FIDLAR are exploring worthy themes. No one expects them to do it articulately. They are a punk band and funny ass motherfuckers with some style. Why Generation represents a band moving forward lyrically and musically without neglecting the punch of their earlier material. While the term earworm is vile, it is appropriate.

7. Do FIDLAR have any other good tunes?

Sure. 40 oz. On Repeat is the lead single from the second album and it nails it. Massive sound. Of course West Coast doesn't miss with it's swing either. I Just Wanna Die is an acoustic number without being lame. Unlikely but true.

8. Are there any other pertinent facts to share with your observant audience? 

Why yes indeed, my fine fellow. The new album Too was produced by Jay Joyce who put the shine on albums by bands like Sleeper Agent, COIN, Coheed and Cambria and Halestorm.

The casual observer will note much is made of front man Zac Carper’s past drug use in the press. Worth note are some of the sour notes in the otherwise privileged life Zac has had. He said,“I stopped doing heroin, I stopped doing meth, I stopped smoking crack,” while crediting in part Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong. As you do.

“How to live in the twenty-first century, 

When every move you make, everyone can see?”

Pudding today is from one of New Zealand’s finest, a national treasure and heroes of the nation, the alternative rock band Shihad. The band have been supplying the smash hits to Kiwis since 1988 and racked up five consecutive NZ number one albums in the process. The finest and most celebrated of which is The General Electric (1999) an album produced by Garth Richarson who did the same for Rise Against, Biffy Clyro, You Me At Six, Chevelle and the best albums from Rage Against The Machine and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  

My Mind’s Sedate was one of a triumvirate of big swinging singles from the album and found them straying slightly into punk territory. 

“Extract the venom spit it over your shoulder”