American heavy duo FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS drop the video clip ‘KEEPING SCORE‘ as part of the two-track advance single from their forthcoming new album “BEAR“, which has been scheduled for release on October 10, 2025, via Magnetic Eye Records. The pre-order is available here: http://lnk.spkr.media/friendshipcommanders-bear 

These exceptional artists from Nashville, Tennessee have already teased the album announcement with the video for ‘MELT‘ over the last few days. Links and important statements regarding both songs can be found below.

The dual singles illustrate the tonal expansiveness contained within the ten-track body of work that is “BEAR”, where there is heaviness and also a kind of lightness. ‘KEEPING SCORE’ sees songwriter Buick Audra confront cycles of women injuring girls due to being threatened by their existence, something she experienced personally. ‘MELT’ addresses the loneliness and confusion that comes with being rejected by members of one’s own gender in adulthood.

“‘KEEPING SCORE’ was the first song written for ‘BEAR’ and I think of it as the mother of the album“, vocalist and guitarist Buick Audra reveals. “When I was a kid, the mother of my best friend, a boy, singled me out as a problem for her son and all the other boys in our skateboarding crew. She was afraid that I was corrupting them somehow. She called around and spread non-truths about me to the other parents, some of whom I’d never met. It was devastating, humiliating beyond words. Years later, I realized women in my own generation were doing the same thing to little girls who knew their sons. Little girls! Age seven, eight! Being called ‘hussies’ by grown women! Color me horrified. Color me involved. Now that I can speak for myself, I will also speak for girls like me. Someone should. The propulsive riff on this song is my war cry.“

Jerry Roe adds: “These songs were so exciting to hear when Buick played them for me for the first time – pretty unlike anything we’d ever done up to this point in terms of energy and propulsion“, the drummer and bass player writes. “Our music has tended to move either fast or slow while somehow feeling heavy at all times, and these songs lean and move forward in a way that’s much brighter and quite joyful, even through the subject matter. To play them almost feels like being flown through the air towards a gigantic bullseye made of fiery confetti! I can’t wait to play this new album live.“

“The song ‘MELT’ is about realizing that I’ve never really fit with my own kind, something I’ve only come to terms with in the last two years or so“, Buick Audra explains. “I’ve spent so much time and energy trying to be a woman among women, but at the end of the day, I’m just always over here being too loud. Too much. And yet, somehow also not enough. It’s a stunning paradox. Musically, the song has a sugary quality to it, which is also referenced in the line, ‘that’s how they punch you, sugar over fists’. This track beats me up because it’s so painfully true, but it’s also a delight to play.“

Bear Tracklist:

1. KEEPING SCORE
2. DRAIN
3. DRIPPING SILVER
4. MELT
5. NEW
6. X
7. MIDHEAVEN
8. IMPERFECT
9. FOUND
10. DEAD & DISCARDED GIRLS

FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS are not just any band within the wider musical cosmos of heavy rock and stoner metal. Artistic excellence, reflected in the two Grammy wins of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Buick Audra as well as the status of drummer and bass player Jerry Roe as one of the most sought after studio percussionists, paired with outstanding lyrical intelligence have once again flown together organically to shape their forthcoming album “BEAR”.

“BEAR” was written around the realisation that Buick Audra had essentially been kicked out of womanhood. This album is a documentation of her awareness also while cataloguing other areas of human connection: art, outsider culture, and dark rock venues – all places where empathy and creativity grow wild. Audra and Jerry Roe arranged and performed the fourth full-length of FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERSalbum to have two sides to it, musically: heavy and light, salt and sugar, fire and air, and lost and found. 

Although hailing from Nashville, Tennessee these denizens of the ‘Music City’ kindly beg to differ. FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS‘ sound draws from sludge, doom, heavy metal, and grunge with roots in punk and hardcore, among other guitar driven styles.

FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS were originally conceived as a side project by the two industry veterans Buick Audra and Jerry Roe, whose accolades have already been mentioned above. When the duo found common ground, they were able to bring all their combined musical excellence, perspectives, precision, and power to their new band.

Their early works, the EPs “GARFIELD” (2015) and “JUNEBUG” (2017) as well as the debut full-length “AVE” (2016) were all self-recorded as well as self-produced in their own studio, Fort Knockout, and supported live with regional tours.

FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS‘ sophomore album ‘BILL’ (2018) was co-produced by the band with Steve Albini and engineered at his Chicago studio, Electrical Audio. Working with Albini proved a pivotal experience for the duo, both personally and professionally. “BILL” reached a notably larger audience and allowed national touring. Following Albini’s passing in 2024, the band released his original analogue mixes of the project, “BILL- The Steve Albini Mixes”.

Although the duo’s members maintained other ventures, FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS had developed into a focal endeavour for them both. Their again self-produced 2020 EP, “HOLD ON TO YOURSELF”, was the beginning of their by now years-long collaboration with Kurt Ballou, who mixed the record. He also mixed their self-produced pandemic-era singles “STONECHILD/ YOUR REIGN IS OVER” (2020), “ALTAR / LAND OF MEN” (2021), and “AND IF MY BODY” (2022). These were later compiled on a limited vinyl release entitled “RELEASE OF THE REST” (2022). The singles also marked a departure from the duo’s previous punk and hardcore leanings while introducing a heavier, sludgier sensibility.

FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS recorded and co-produced their third album “MASS” again with Ballou at his GodCity Studio in Salem, MA. Audra recorded and produced her vocals at her Nashville studio, and Ballou then mixed the tracks. With “MASS” (2023), a concept album about memory, language, and the state of Massachusetts, the duo took the important next step of reaching a global audience.

“BEAR” was again co-produced by band members Buick Audra and Jerry Roe. The duo returned to Salem to work along once more with their longtime collaborator, Kurt Ballou, who also tracked the instrumental performances and mixed the record. As a result, the songs with a huge range of musical ideas and expressions are unified in sound as well as in theme, which runs throughout the record in various ways: the ever-elusive idea of belonging, where it occurs, and where it absolutely does not.  

With “BEAR”, FRIENDSHIP COMMANDERS present a rare sparkling gem of an album, heavy yet captivating, shiny yet dark, and songs that brim with important meaning. “BEAR” is easy to get into, but beware, this album will draw its listeners into fascinating and thought-provoking depths!

Line-up
Buick Audra – songs, guitar, vocals, co-producer
Jerry Roe – drums, percussion, bass, synths, co-producer

Produced by Friendship Commanders & Kurt Ballou
Recorded by Kurt Ballou at GodCity, Salem, MA (US)
Vocal recording by Buick Audra at Fort Knockout, Nashville, TN (US)
Additional engineering by Jerry Roe at Fort Knockout, Nashville, TN (US)
Assistant engineering by Zach Weeks at GodCity, Salem, MA (US)
Mixed by Kurt Ballou at GodCity, Salem, MA (US)
Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Portland, OR (US)

Cover artwork by Jerry Roe & Buick Audra
Layout by Buick Audra & Keith Brogdon

https://www.friendshipcommandersband.com
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