Merry Christmas! Here are two new singles that we are excited to share with you. All proceeds from the songs will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Even if we can’t give kids @starwars, at least some dollars will do them well. Thank you for your generosity and hope you enjoy the music! :)
Four new Miranda co-writes up. “Love is in the Airstream,” “Skeletons,” “Records I Never Heard,” and “Vice” all co-written with Shane McAnally & Josh Osborne.
-Doctor, ¿Por qué me deja a solas y con esta pistola …?**Bueno,¿Querías soluciones o no?**-Sí, pero esta no es la manera…**Shhh, solo hazlo.. es lo mejor.**
Even for just two songs, System of a Down making a return to the studio might be one of the most surprising things to happen in a year so wild that nothing is surprising anymore. Like most fans of the band who have gotten their hopes up for long-awaited commitment to new material by certain members coming out in the press to express why they think SOAD has a future while others would reaffirm that everything was still on hiatus, the repeatedly being jerked around (mostly by publications that make money off teasing the reunion of a band like SOAD) has only diminished hopes of new SOAD music actually materializing. After the boys went off to work on their own individual projects following the band’s last album in 2006, Hypnotize, only to briefly reconvene for a few shows in select years and seeing the constant public up-and-down of intra-band relations, I was as ready as probably a lot of fans were to pound the gavel on this band’s career. I was even gearing up to write a little retrospective piece on their legacy and sustained importance given the heated political climate that their music is tragically still all too relevant to today. But seemingly out of nowhere, they’re back.
For now. And the circumstances aren’t exactly anything to get elated about for any fan of the band. Those familiar with System of a Down are probably well aware of the Armenian cultural heritage the band wear on their sleeve, and the catalyst for these seemingly never-on-the-same-page band members to finally drop it all and come together has been the ramping up of human rights violations and war going on in their homeland. The band spell out on their newly formed Bandcamp page the brief details of the conflict with Turkey and ISIS that has poured more fuel onto the resuming of an attempted genocide of the Armenian people in their citing of the ongoing conflict as their purpose for creating these two songs, the proceeds of which are being directed entirely to the Armenia Fund.
The first song, “Protect the Land” is semi-folky, slow-burning alt metal anthem in tribute of the armed forced defending Artsakh, not really channeling the characteristic spitfire attitude of the band’s more fast-paced music, but falling more along the lines of more mid-paced songs like “Aerials”, “Hypnotize”, or “Mr. Jack”. The anthemic guitar line and the arm-in-arm harmony on the chorus between Daron and Serj on the song are pretty inspiring and the band do indeed sound committed and invested in this project, not just like they’re reviving a cash cow for selfish reasons. After 15 years of not hearing them though, you can hear the aging in Serj’s voice on this track. He doesn’t sound bad, but for him (and the rest of the band for that matter), the song is musically a bit of a scraping of the rust from off of the long-stagnant gears.
The second track, “Genocidal Humanoidz”, is a totally different story musically. At half the length of the preceding track and probably more than twice the speed, the second song captures the band’s more high-octane, thrashy side that they showcased on songs like “Cigaro”, “Attack”, “Bounce”, and “Jet Pilot”. The apparent aging between the two singers is also switched on this song, as the usually more manic Daron seems to drop to his lower register to deliver his relatively quick-paced lines during the verses to conserve his breath and probably protect his throat too, while Serj comes into full force on the choruses on this song that feels like it has their signature written on it a bit more than “Protect the Land”, which makes sense given the tone the band were clearly going for on that song. We get a pretty sick blast beat passage during the bridge here too that gives the song a helpful boost in energy as well that ends this little two-song release on a note of underlying anticipation for the band.
The question that will quickly be on every fan’s mind after digesting this really small bite of new music is inevitably, “What’s next?”. Like I said, it took a war in their homeland to abruptly bring these guys back together after a decade and a half of unencouraging squabbling, and I doubt that just forcibly getting back into the studio, and briefly so, is going to make go away whatever problems where keeping them out of the studio in the first place. Maybe this has given them new perspective and some time to mend, but I wouldn’t take this as any indication or guarantee that there’s going to be anything else in the works in the near future. I will maintain my baseline dosage of hopium for now; I’m not gonna get my hopes up for a new album coming down the pipeline any time soon. That being said, this two-song offering sounds like a pretty good warm-up for the band, one that they sound pretty loosened up by the blast-beat-driven end of, and I would of course welcome with open arms any new music from these guys, be it singles or albums. For now, love and support to the people of Artsakh and Armenia, and thank you System of a Down.
Vundabar ⚡️ (this is THE best new but not new band, they have a million great alternative songs that will make you wanna join a band)
JEFF The Brotherhood (new rock music ain’t dead yet, they’re really awesome and have a bunch of tunes you have yet to discover)
Violent Soho (i swear to you, this is the band you’ve been craving. super good rock music that gives off 90s vibes)
Wolf Alice (even though you SHOULD have heard their stuff by now, if you haven’t please do. my absolute favorite band who are underrated af with a mix of hard punk, alternative, rock, and slow songs)
Jack River ☀️ (really versatile with a good mix of slower/pop songs and bangin’ alternative)
Goodbye Honolulu (my new fav alt band, they have an amazing sound and ‘typical’ will be your favorite by far)
Shag Rock (they have good lowkey indie stuff, will give you summer vibes in this cold hell we are living in)
Albert Hammond Jr. (not a band but if y’all didn’t know he has solo stuff out!!! somewhat comparable to the strokes but he has amazing music with an awesome style nd it’s wonderful)
DMA’s✖️(one of the greatest bands I’ve ever heard, Oasis vibes, highly recommend)
Skegss⚡️ (makes you feel like you’re skateboarding down a boardwalk in the middle of an australian summer)
Vundabar (one of my all time favorite bands… they make a unique kind of alternative music with catchy melodies and gritty lyrics/sounds that are truly brilliant)
Goodbye Honolulu (really good garage rock stuff and an overall awesome sound. chord progressions are also a1)
Made Violent (also restores my faith in alternative and punk)
Courtney Barnett (if you don’t know this songwriting wizard by now… relatable music, awesome guitar playing and band, just overall beautiful songs)
Gallus (my favorite modern alternative band for the past 2 yrs now… super underrated shit, real rock songs that are clean and so advanced. definitely check them out)
Otherkin (imagine a movie intro of someone walking through high school in the early 2000s, with a little more punk)
Cosmic Flanders (only have 2 songs rn but I know they’ll be big, has a retro-rock and modern day psych-rock feel)
Violent Soho (reminds me so much of classic 90s bands, ultimate new headbanger music with plenty of more mellow bops too)
The Delta Riggs ⚫️ (the BEST funky alternative)
The Dose (90’s vibe… it’s good stuff)
The Growlers☀️ (y’all should know them but if you don’t… mix of indie/rock/alt/with some pop stuff, overall the band is super dynamic with a great lead singer and amazing riffs/beats)
Skinny Girl Diet (female nirvana. that’s it. fucking awesome)
Hot Flash Heat Wave (mix of post-punk and psychedelic pop stuff, super catchy tunes that you’ll love)
