AWOLNATION’s top five tracks on Spotify have almost 500 million fucking streams between them, their albums have gone platinum multiple fucking times, they were the first band to ever have a number one after already being in the Billboard Hot 100 for over a year, and they’re poised to drop one of the hottest fucking albums of 2018 when third album Here Come The Runts arrives in February.
Absolute stonking trendsetters that we are, we’ve been covering the fucks ever since their first album Megalithic Symphony dropped back in 2011. But who the fuck are they, what the fuck do they want and why the fuck should you care? Let us break it the fuck down…
Who the fuck are they?
Let’s get this fucking straight from the start: AWOLNATION is the brainchild of one fucking dude, and that dude is frontman and mastermind Aaron Bruno. You might recognise him from his time with neo-grunge rockers Home Town Hero, or the alt-rock fuckery of Under The Influence Of Giants, but chances are you won’t because both of those bands did fuck all and flopped without a fucking trace, leaving Bruno feeling pretty fucking miserable about the whole music thing.
But that’s where AWOLNATION came in, and thanks to runaway sleeper hit Sail, which went absolutely fucking everywhere, their debut album went platinum, Bruno became the biggest fucking electro-rock star in the world, was widely credited with creating a whole new blend of electronic alternative music (yeah, he’s the talented fuck you can thank for that), AND went on tour with Prophets Of fucking Rage. So, y’know, fuck the haters, etc.
What the fuck do they sound like?
Bruno recently told us that “you can’t go a whole career and not have an Iron Maiden gallop in one of your songs” and he’s damn fucking right for our money, there. However, Iron Maiden this most certainly fucking ain’t. It’s hard-edged electro indie rock that befits its frequent appearances in the dramatic montages of US dramas. However, as members of the select very-fucking-few who’ve heard new 2018 album Here Come The Runts in its entirety, we can confidently tell you it’s pretty fucking out there, veering between plinky plonky ballads and fucking box-of-frogs bananas synth thrash.
Fuck it: listen for yourselves. Their mega-hit Sail is a good a place as any to give you the general fucking idea. You’ll probably recognise it from one of the many TV shows and commercials it’s been fucking plastered all over.
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What’s their best fucking song?
Sail has been streamed on Spotify over 360 million times. THREE FUCKING HUNDRED AND SIXTY FUCKING MILLION. That’s more fucking streams than there are people in fucking America, and that’s not counting the 63 million people who took to fucking YouTube to hear it. Basically, this is pretty much the most popular rock song since records began. But as we all know, popular and good mean different fucking things, so we’ll go out on a limb and say the vaguely lesser-known Kill Your Heroes, from their 2011 debut, is the tastemaker’s choice.
What’s their best fucking video, then?
The video for latest single Passion is actually pretty fucking cool. It follows the real life story of disabled skater Og De Souza as he throws a massive middle finger at the world and spends his day skating the fuck around Brazil despite, presumably, people telling him he couldn’t/shouldn’t/whatever. Again, fuck the haters, etc.
YouTube viewers were quick to pick up on the very-fucking-thinly-veiled message behind the video, bless ‘em.
What do people say about the fuckers?
AWOLNATION’s last released album didn’t get a single fucking bad review. Anywhere. It’s un-fucking-precedented, but for good reason: it’s fucking good. Q got a little over-excited and dubbed Run ‘heroic’, while Alternative Press was less effusive in calling it a ‘quality listen’. Billboard was a mixed in its response, but what the fuck does Billboard know, anyway?
What the fuck do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
AWOLNATION's Aaron Bruno on making "the best rock album in years"
