“Someone’s naked, no one is listening, everything is smoke and haze,” sings Lucas Asher on the title track “These Kids Nowadays” for the debut Faulkner Ep “REVANCHIST.”
“The starting point for this album was listening to Wu Tang Clan’s 36 Chambers on repeat in Brooklyn,” says Asher “Also, I’ve slept with the ’48 laws of power’ under my pillow for the last three years.”
The result is six hypnotically subversive songs, with contributions from producers RZA, JP Bowersock (The Strokes) and Mark Needham (The Killers) recorded at Rick Rubin’s house.
Since Faulkner emerged, the bi-coastal rockers landed an unfinished demo of their song “NY Anthem” in the hands of RZA, the Wu-Tang Clan mastermind. Faulkner captured the hip hop God’s interest, leading to their first major collaboration, which can be heard at the New York Yankees home games.
But New York isn’t the only place giving them love. Emphasizing the term “bi-coastal,” the rockers have also been featured on iconic L.A. radio station KROQ with their single “Revolutionary” at well over two million plays on YouTube.
“This record is a soundtrack from the times I lived on the streets in New York after running away as an orphan in my teens and experiencing the harsh realities of a dislocated childhood,” says Asher.
Lyrically, the Ep balances revenge themes and overtones with soaring anthems (the defiantly charged “All I Wear Is Black,” and the Machiavellian “Keep Your Enemies Closer”, is a prime example).
“We have a clear vision and consistent theme,” bassist Dimitri Farougias explains.“Perhaps this vision developed because the band “organically came together as friends,” says drummer Christian Hogan. “the musical chemistry between co-producer and member Eric Scullin establishes an undeniable chemistry.
All Faulkner members are hands on with all sides of the creative presentation, they direct their own music videos (In monochrome) and have a vision for the images and theme as an extension of the music storyline.
“Ideas are all we care about. Good ones and bad ones,” Says Asher, “One of my biggest influences is Lou Reed and he said “you may be drawing a circle for the thousandth time, but maybe it’s a slightly better circle.” All Faulkner is trying to do is draw a slightly better circle.
