San Francisco – Kanye West wishes he was the voice of a generation. FIDLAR actually is, because few artists have better articulated the rather pathetic state of arrested development many millennials find themselves trapped in today. Alienated by suburban sprawl, disillusioned from an overdose of mass media marketed dreams of easily attainable happiness and utterly distracted by technological novelties, the Los Angeles-based punk rock band expresses a quarter century’s worth of frustration in their songs about drunken escapades, drug-fueled parties and the ensuing loneliness that blossoms the hungover morning after. Or, to use the words of FIDLAR from their latest single “40oz. On Repeat,” “I got bills to pay / I got pills to take / Cuz I’m bored and raised in the U.S.A.”
In contrast to their fabulously grimy 2012 self-titled debut, their sophomore offering Too sees the group step up their production values, polish some of the rougher edges off their punk riffs, and embrace the pop heart of their garage rock aesthetic. “40oz. On Repeat,” in particular, could pass as pure power-pop if the lyrical content wasn’t so disconcerting. The huge singalong chorus impressively balances irony and genuine emotion, displaying real pain while also subverting the indie rock tendency to disguise maudlin poetry with catchy melodies and hummable hooks. As they chant, “everybody’s got somebody, everybody but me,” you both recognize how over-the-top the self-pitying attitude is and identify with the deeper isolation, the kind your inner teenager completely understands.
Along with tighter song structures and a heightened pop sensibility, FIDLAR also throws in some genre twists: the Jack White-esque blues rocker “Punks,” the quasi-power ballad of mistakes on “Stupid Decisions,” the Tom Waits-like atmosphere of “Overdose” with its haunting effects, eerie instrumentation and concluding blast of distortion sounding like a howl from the mouth of hell. Then there’s the hilarious semi-spoken word relationship rant “Sober,” a song which features one of the greatest lyrics of the 21st century: “I figured out when I got older / That life just sucks when you get sober.”
FIDLAR are at their best when they resist the restraints of the garage rock genre and forge their own unique musical identity. They have a habit of sounding too much like their peers at times, such as the very Black Lips inspired “West Coast” or the straight-outta-CBGB punk explosion “Drone.” These are certainly not bad songs; they just don’t capture the raw authenticity and sometimes wincing self-awareness of FIDLAR at their best.
Such sonic characteristics coalesce on closer “Bad Habits,” a track that serves as the group’s bittersweet mission statement, perfectly capturing the album’s varied tone: a mix of vacuous nihilism and intense longing, depraved humor and thoughtful rumination, a lust for life and a cry for help. It’s an album great for the party and even better for the day after when you realize you’re still broke, still alone, still not sure how to grapple with the inevitability of growing up, getting old and accepting the looming dread of responsibility. And, in the end, you completely agree with their words, “I just wanna feel something real.” You’ll feel something real right here.
More information on FIDLAR and their new record released by Mom + Pop Music can be found here.
Nick Schneider
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