Album Review: We Are Band Nerds – Forget Me Not

The notion of rap/rock together became reality when Aerosmith and Run DMC ed to bring a sound to reinvigorate themselves. The blend formed and evolved as the years went by. Instead of two enigmas working together such as Anthrax and Public Enemy, or Biohazard and Onyx the world started hearing bands become rap/metal.

With years flying by and nu-metal changing the way people listen and play music, this sound grew in a commercial whirlwind. Limp Bizkit added turntables with a microphone, the emergence of Linkin Park gave the opportunity for musicians to feel comfortable making music this way. Since those days of Deftones emerging, and with Korn breaking down barriers in the 90s things have led to many incarnations, but what we have now is Dallas, Texas’s We Are Band Nerds. Brandon Cross (lead singer/rapper), Tony Lucas (rapper/vocalist), Dorian “Scullie” Thomas (guitarist), Carlos “DJ Sol*Los” Juarez (DJ/sampler), Stephen “S Dot” Bonilla (drums), and Santos “Sandman” Johnson (bass) are planning on giving the nu-metal experience a new taste with their debut Forget Me Nots, out everywhere on February 23, 2018, via Pavement Entertainment.

The introduction to Forget Me Nots begins with electronic samples and a hip-hop flow for “Hunger Games”. Turntables with a heavy yet short burst of metal riffs, topped with a chilled rap lyrical flow has a Deftones vibe hitting us with the odd unexpected vocal explosion.

“Every night I dream that I’m a rock star” is a commercial beat flowing and “Dreamer” would be a tune comfortable for radio play… but what we’ve learnt already is these guys change mid-stance, as heavy riffs enter the fold along with screamed vocals as this is a tale of many sounds. “Underwater” shows lyrical ability – “I told my mum I smoke weed, she said boy please you got asthma”. I love this lyric, and really enjoyed the words of this track. There’s a certain Deftones feel to “American Trash”. Their tagline is “when Deftones meet Outkast”, and I don’t think they’re sorry Ms Jackson as they are not bored.

There’s a nod to Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie” in “Savage” as they did it all for the nookie… I must say they acknowledge these bands but do not sound like them,. They’re not a cover band, the idea of which always leaves a fearful taste in this mouth when reading a band has a nu-metal genre attached to them. We Are Band Nerds have six unique talented guys working together to see what they can make. They give to and continue this dream called life as they finish with “Fade Away”, an alternative rock tune.

We Are Band Nerds have created a nine-track record of infectious grooves, funk, jazz, metal and a side dish of rap.

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