The Barbarians of California share the video for ‘Three Letters’ – the song features Tim McIlrath of Rise Against. “When we started The Barbarians of California, Eric and I had a hand-shake deal that, within this project, I would never sing in a similar vocal style to what I do in AWOLNATION,” says Bruno. “We wanted to keep everything much more brutal. With this song, we wrote the verses and heavier sections first, and I remember later that night… having this chorus idea come to me out of thin air. It was an obvious departure in every way, but I knew it needed to happen. I realized that this opened up an opportunity to go wider. I was being stubborn by refusing to ‘sing.’ Rules are made to be broken.”
Stenman offers: “I’m confident that anyone who meets Tim instantly falls in love with the guy! He’s super positive, a great hang, and shares so many common loves from ’90s and early 2000’s music. We were psyched when he made time to come over to our studio and work on this song with us. His voice sounds absolutely amazing alongside Aaron’s.“
“‘Three Letters’ is a blast of energy that will be familiar to people like Aaron and I, who spent many of our formative years in the ’90s hardcore world,” says McIlrath. “I was glad to lend my voice to it and I hope it hijacks the airwaves near you soon.”
The West Coast’s contribution to hardcore punk is undeniable. That tradition of aggression, passion, and scrappy melodicism continues with The Barbarians Of California, an engaging new manifestation of iconoclastic spirit and true bombast. Featuring Aaron Bruno of AWOLNATION and Eric Stenman of Tinfed, as well as being a noted producer, TBOC are equal opportunity iconoclasts, gleefully thrashing the left and the right in the hardcore-punk tradition of nonconformity and raw fury. The band isn’t “political,” because they aren’t advocating for anyone’s platform. The central message is defiance. The band’s debut album ‘And Now I’m Just Gnashing My Teeth’ arrives on October 4th via ONErpm.