The first time I heard FIDLAR, I was parked on my couch holding my cellphone over my head and smiling like a massive dork up at the screen. Some cute boy from OKCupid was sending me links to YouTube videos from his favorite bands. The Skate Punk/Surf Rock sounds of FIDLAR made up most of the list.
Admittedly, it’s hard to take a guy seriously when he’s sending you songs about cheap beer and being too broke to buy weed. (Weed? Seriously?) Then there was “No Waves,” a song about being a cokehead and wanting to get your shit together, but also, you know, just really wanting to get high again. Red flags were everywhere. The catch, though: FIDLAR stands for the old skater motto, “Fuck it dog, life’s a risk,” and my big risk was finally braving the November chill to grab Skyline with FIDLAR’s biggest fan.
It turns out that you can’t always judge a band by their lyrics or a dude by his favorite YouTube videos. FIDLAR might make music about skating, drugs and being slackers, but in direct contrast to that, the Los Angeles quartet has worked insanely hard since forming in 2009. Recognizing that there’s nothing for them outside of music, the band pushed out four EPs and one studio album. The group has also traveled the entire globe, causing ruckus and leaving rubble in their wake.
And that nerdy YouTube link-sending drummer who loves them so much? He already bought us tickets to go party at FIDLAR’s feet. I hope. You got tickets, right, homeboy? In retrospect, I probably should have taken care of that myself.
