Nashville's heavy melodic pair Friendship Commanders returns with a raucous new release. Their latest single, "DRAIN," makes for a brash first stamp on their fourth full-length, "BEAR," already out through Magnetic Eye Records. Co-produced by Buick Audra and Jerry Roe of the band, along with longtime collaborator Kurt Ballou, "BEAR" examines the brutal push and pull of belonging somewhere, miraculously finding as well as not.
"DRAIN" embodies that idea in visceral terms. The song is a stand against those who take bits and pieces of your story as their own. It's also one of the heaviest songs on "BEAR," with Audra giving some of her most powerful vocals to date. The intensity of the song stems from Roe's complex drumming and bass playing, generating a weight that pulls you in immediately.
The video that accompanies it is a powerful statement about the band's DIY spirit and a homage to its scrappy roots. It's a return to how this chapter of our band started, with just the two of us building everything from the ground up. Together, the visual and auditory components create an unfiltered emotional experience, a transparent view of the core of Friendship Commanders' artistry. Friendship Commanders is currently woodshedding new material set to be recorded.
On "DRAIN," Friendship Commanders reestablish their foothold in Nashville's heavy music scene, banding emotion with unflinching heaviness and precision musicianship. For those who like their melodic heaviness peppered with passion and power, this track is not to be missed and will only whet the appetite for what, by all accounts, seems like an album set to challenge, confront, and, with any luck, stick around.