Eric Stenman: truly an enigma. Most have not heard the name but will have heard whatever he works on, or was working on. Taking a slice from the 2010s era, his engineering credentials are baffling: M.I.A.’s forever underrated MAYA record, 3OH!3, Keyshia Cole, primetime Katy Perry. The Batman: Arkham City soundtrack…
And what about working once again with Aaron Bruno, the AWOLNATION guy? I have to readily admit I still cannot name another song except Sail, which is honestly a decent hit from the time-warp chart music graveyard of the post-noughties, and ruined by car adverts and a ‘failing cat jump’ meme; YouTube humour drudge frozen in time, thank goodness.
I digress. Yet all this bombardment of information and sheet buffoonery at surface-level does not help piece together what Stenman and Bruno’s joint project is. Easily, The Barbarians Of California can seem a joke, their second album’s titles adding to their idea: VANILLA LATTE, THIS IS SHREDICAL, with such songs respectively displaying Every Time I Die’s mathy swagger, winking pinch harmonics and Mario-like “Wa-hooooos!!”. Then again, the album’s actually pretty good!
No matter their sporadic and mainstream-skimming backgrounds, the duo’s individual experiences alone are enough to justify the well-made catchy songs and playful genreless experiments that post-hardcore has all but lost in recent times. BACK TO THE VALLEY does diddly-dee-diddly-doo choir vocals over some early Beartooth power- and panic chords. All these riffs are either meatheaded or boneheaded, take your pick. On a similar note, THE GNARLYCORE CLASS may be annoying or may be great. The jury’s still out. What is heartily enjoyable is it self-referencing the record title itself; a rift on the ‘bands shouting their band name’ which should be a whole Grace Spelman Music Project-like playlist.
BOMB TO A KNIFE FIGHT has a lyrical obsession with hats. They might be the only band to use the term “rad” (on REALLY REALLY RAD) as much as the equally cartoonish Aquabats. HIDE ALL YOUR RECORDS is only a rapped interlude but packs the record’s evilest tone in the background’s murk, and, on the spooky subject, SHARK OUT OF WATER’s main proggy-acoustic riffs are a bit like Opeth. Of course there’s a lot of talk about their California homeland, if there’s any throughline—surely proving (like similar partystarters Drain) the State is trying its hardest to punch out jubilant thrills amid the troubles of modern living.
As you can probably tell, this is big, dumb fun made by big, not-so-dumb musicians and I have a big, dumb smirk just thinking about listening to it again. That has to count for something, and the fact that I don’t think I’ll hear a sillier album this year. Joke’s on me for wanting music discovery to be enjoyable again.
Oh, also, their old drummer is now in Guns N’ Roses. What is happening?
For fans of: The Callous Daoboys, Electric Callboy, Fever 333
‘MEGATONS’ by The Barbarians Of California is released on 21st August on Villains For Good.
Words by Elliot Burr
