I Fight Dragons Puts a Nerdy Spin on Pop Rock Music

UPDATE: The new I Fight Dragons album (“The Near Future”) is out & available at amzn.to/1zHZpTW (digital download – $8.99) or ifightdragons.com/store (vinyl+digital download – $23.99)!

That’s right: they decided to dump CD’s in favor of digi-download and vinyl (see below)…

…We’re abandoning the now-obsolete CD format.  What’s the use of a CD in [2014] anyway, besides possibly as an undersized frisbee or very ineffective ninja throwing weapon?

Instead, we’re [creating] this album on a deluxe 180-gram Vinyl LP, packaged in a huge double gatefold sleeve with wraparound cover art.  The vinyl will of course come with a high-quality digital download for portability, thus providing the proverbial “best of both worlds”.

Many readers of Nerdy Minds (Magazine) are probably familiar with chiptune music, in which the sounds of old computer or video game systems are used to make music. Most chiptune artists exist as niche artists, never really cracking the mainstream music scene. I Fight Dragons (also known as IFD), however, shows that chiptune and popular music can coexist. Having been a fan of many Super NES soundtracks (Super Metroid‘s is by far my favorite), they intrigued me from the start.

I Fight Dragons is a fairly young band, forming in 2008 in Chicago and going through a few lineup changes before rounding into their present form. Amazingly, it only took them around a year to sign their first major label contract, and from there they took off, appearing on MTV and opening for chart toppers such as 3OH!3 and Cobra Starship. To date, the band has released 2 EPs (Cool is Just a Number and Welcome to the Breakdown) as well as a full album (KABOOM!). Currently, they are recording their next album, funded through Kickstarter, called The Near Future.

Probably the thing that has struck me the most about this band, other than their relatively original sound, is their versatility. They have plenty of songs that fit them squarely into the nerd genre, such as their zombie-inspired song from KABOOM! called “cRaZie$”. I love the mix of chiptune and guitar in this one.

IFD also puts out songs that would fit on any other pop or mainstream rock album, though, such as this slower love song called “With You”, featuring YouTube sensation Kina Grannis.

If you like the above two songs, I would highly recommend downloading IFDAmnesty2 as an introduction to the band. It’s not a cohesive album like you’d expect, but it gives listeners a good idea of what I Fight Dragons is about before buying any of their EPs or albums (which I would also recommend if you like the band). Highlights from IFDAmnesty2 include this cover of John Mayer’s “The Heart of Life”. IFD especially shows their musical talent here; I really like how the three singers’ voices harmonize.

My other favorite from the aforementioned compilation is this cover of the Air Man theme from Mega Man 2, played by Packy Lundholm as his introduction to fans when he joined the band in 2009.

This post brought to you by Nerdy Minds Magazine and written by JP of The Jam.