This band stimulates nostalgia for rock music of the 90’s and 00’s (a time where alternative and pop-punk bands like Green Day, Blink-182, Fall Out Boy, & My Chemical Romance dominated), while hinting at the next possible evolution of the genre. Their culturally relevant appeal and message is inspiring a new wave of rock music back into the mainstream by delivering angsty and emotional compositions to a younger audience grown accustomed to today’s apathetic, lethargic, and practically inconsequential indie “rock” artists.
The cover art reveals The Freaks’ many inspirations, including who they consider to be the real rockstars of the day: the likes of Migos, Tyler the Creator, Kendrick Lamar, and others. The passion and ethos of such artists seem to drive The Freaks in many ways beyond their compositions. It’s clear that they have not set out to simply conform and be placed in the past alongside their pop-punk predecessors but instead, are destined to evolve the genre into something new.
The mastermind behind The Freaks is lead singer and guitarist, Alexander Bean, who wrote every song, recorded every instrument, and sang every line on the album. Before leaving his hometown in Atlanta, Georgia to study at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, Bean spent his time recording and writing music in a “studio” he built in his basement using very limited equipment. The production quality is far beyond what one would expect out of such circumstances, thus highlighting Bean’s talent and the band’s humble yet impressive beginnings.
