Nashville heavy melodic duo Friendship Commanders recently released their fourth album, BEAR, via Magnetic Eye Records. BEAR is about the ever-elusive idea of belonging—where it occurs, and where it absolutely does not. Buick Audra wrote the body of work after realizing she had essentially been kicked out of womanhood, if she had ever been part of it in the first place. The project opens and closes with songs about girls, and the damage they endure at the hands of other girls and adult women. The project was co-produced by band members Buick Audra (guitars, vocals) and Jerry Roe (drums, bass) along with their longtime collaborator, Kurt Ballou, who also tracked the instrumental performances and mixed the record.
The album closes with “DEAD & DISCARDED GIRLS,” an arresting composition written in part about the 1997 murder of fourteen-year-old Reena Virk and in part about the limits of empathy when people cannot relate to someone’s experience. The album’s dedication “For all of the bad daughters” comes from this track. The video, directed, edited, & shot by Jerry Roe, will be released on the anniversary of Virk’s death, November 14, and can be viewed below.
Buick Audra on the single:
“I learned of Reena’s story through the work of Rebecca Godfrey, who wrote a book about this horrific event, and I was struck by this tale of exclusion, violence, and ultimately death that befell a kid who just wanted to fit in. I know it well, and I also know how little empathy women and girls are sometimes able to extend to their own kind. I’ve felt it all my life. In this track, I’m trying to say, look at what we do to each other. I recorded the vocals for ‘DEAD & DISCARDED GIRLS’ last year on November 14, in tribute to her. The track spans the broadest dynamics on the record, from an intimate opening to a crushing middle section, reflecting its message: care about someone else; care about her. Reena was drowned, so the song and video are both centered around water.”
Jerry Roe on directing the video:
“I tend to see visuals and work off my gut instinct when it’s time to make a video, but I leaned harder on that than anything else this time. Rather than get overly specific or directly reference what this song was about, I wanted to involve water and the kind of foliage that lives around it. Contrasted with dark black-and-blue, predominantly slow-motion performance footage, made to look as if we’re underwater, my goal was to present souls lost to the water as living on underneath and in the earth forever. Not trapped, but here to remind us of what should have been.”
Stream BEAR: http://lnk.spkr.media/friendshipcommanders-bear
Order BEAR on vinyl & CD: https://friendshipcommanders.bandcamp.com/album/bear
1. KEEPING SCORE
2. DRAIN
3. DRIPPING SILVER
4. MELT
5. NEW
6. X
7. MIDHEAVEN
8. IMPERFECT
9. FOUND
10. DEAD & DISCARDED GIRLS
Produced by Friendship Commanders & Kurt Ballou.
Recorded by Kurt Ballou at GodCity, Salem, MA.
Vocal recording by Buick Audra at Fort Knockout, Nashville, TN.
Additional engineering by Jerry Roe at Fort Knockout, Nashville, TN.
Assistant engineering by Zach Weeks at GodCity, Salem, MA.
Mixed by Kurt Ballou at GodCity, Salem, MA.
Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Portland, OR.
Line-up:
Buick Audra – songs, guitar, vocals, co-producer
Jerry Roe – drums, percussion, bass, synths, co-producer
Friendship Commanders Online:
Bandcamp: https://friendshipcommanders.bandcamp.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4sP7ipyYUfdkpzCEP0kSw2?si=aKk8-89NQ1yhTfS2TX7Kmw
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/friendship-commanders/1075996539
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@friendshipcommanders
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@friendshipcommanders
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friendshipcommanders/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@friendshipcommanders
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fcommanders.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/friendshipcommanders/
Website: https://www.friendshipcommandersband.com/
Friendship Commanders Tour Dates:
11.07 – Austin, TX @ Raven Room at Crowbar
11.08 – Houston, TX @ 1810 Ojeman
11.09 – Fort Worth, TX @ The Cicada
11.11 – Albuquerque, NM @ TBA
11.12 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Griffin
11.13 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Redwood Bar
11.14 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Jury Room
11.15 – San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt
11.16 – Palmdale, CA @ Transplants Brewing Co.
11.19 – Bellingham, WA @ Waterfront Tavern
11.20 – Portland, OR @ High Water Mark
11.21 – Seattle, WA @ Bad Bar
11.23 – Laramie, WY @ Ruffed Up Duck
