Music / AWOLNATION

Awolnation (usually stylized as AWOLNATION) is an American alternative/electronic rock band from Los Angeles, formed by the former lead singer of Under the Influence of Giants, Aaron Bruno. They are signed to Red Bull Records. They are best known for their 2011 song "Sail", but their songs "Burn it Down", and "Kill Your Heroes" are also well-known. Their songs have been used in commercials, movies, and TV shows all alike. Most notably, their song "Sail" was used in promos for, appropriately enough, Vikings.

Discography

• Back from Earth EP (2011)
• Megalithic Symphony (2011)
• I've Been Dreaming EP (2012)
• Run (2015)
• Here Come the Runts (2018)
• Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders (2020)
• My Echo, My Shadow, My Covers, and Me (2022)

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This band provides examples of the following tropes:

• Album Title Drop: Every single one of their albums contains this. Megalithic Symphony, Run and Here Come the Runts has a song with the same name on the album. Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders is a bit unique as there's both "Slam (Angel Miners)" as well as "Lightning Riders", but is name dropped fully at the end of the last song on the album, "I'm a Wreck".
• Alliterative Title: "My Molasses", "Tall, Tall, Tale", "Miracle Man", "Fat Face", "Woman Woman", the list goes on.
• The Anti-Nihilist: "Kill your Heroes" is basically the anti-nihilist theme song with its message being, "Live your dreams because life is ultimately without consequences."
  Well I met an old man dying on a train.
  No more destination, no more pain.

  Well the sun one day will leave us all behind
  Unexplanable sightings in the sky

  No need to worry cause everybody will die.
• Arc Words: Angel miners and lightning riders from "Angel Miners & the Lightning Riders". Both parts have one song referencing them, "Slam (Angel Miners)" and "Lightning Riders" respectively and both words are shouted out at the end of "I'm a Wreck".
• Atomic F-Bomb: There's one in "Dreamers".
  • Two back to back in "I'm a Wreck".
• Attention Deficit... Ooh, Shiny!
  "Blame it on my A.D.D., baby."
• Animated Music Video: "Pacific Coast Highway in the Movies" and "Not Your Fault", the latter of which uses stop motion in a style similar to MoralOrel.
• Audience Participation Song: "Sail", where you're expected to scream "SAIL", as loud as possible.
• Careful with That Axe: "Soul Wars" and "Burn It Down". Actually pretty common in Awolnation's songs.
  • The chorus of "Not Your Fault" qualifies as this, as well as the entirety of "Sail."
  • "Dreamers" starts out with some pretty calm vocals, but as it goes on, the vocals get crazier and crazier.
  • "Like People, Like Plastic" might be the best example out of all of their songs, ESPECIALLY at the very end of the song.
• Cluster F-Bomb: "MF".
• Driven to Suicide: The song, "Sail", contains this line.
  "Maybe I should kill myself."
• Electronic Rock: No explanation needed here.
• Epic Rocking: "Knights of Shame" is a Genre-Busting masterpiece that lasts exactly 11:49, but is 3:10 more longer on the album itself including two minutes of silence and a brief Hidden Track consisting of a reprise of "Jump on My Shoulders" and then some original lyrics sung to the tune of the "It's no fun waiting for the fall" section of the song.
  • "Stop That Train" off of Here Come The Runs barely pushes 6 minutes, at 6:02.
• Fading into the Next Song: Happens a couple times, such as the tail end of "Run" containing the introductory piano chords to "Fat Face".
  • Also happens in "Passion" which bleeds into "Sound Witness System".
• Fan Community Nickname: The Nation.
• Genre Mashup: Primarily alternative, Awolnation's music have ran the gamut from industrial, to power pop, to rap rock, and much more. "Sail" alone could be described as a synth-industrial-dubstep-noise-electrorock number.
• Homage: Part of the music video for "Kill Your Heroes" is a bizarre one for Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, complete with little trains and hand-puppets.
• I Am the Band: Aaron does at least 99% of the song writing.
• Large Ham: Aaron Bruno, big time. Especially so in "Burn It Down".
  • Also Windows.
• Longest Song Goes Last: Every album so far has had their longest track as the final save Angel Miners, which has its longest track as the second.
• Lyrical Cold Open: "Some Sort of Creature". Of course, that's understandable, because the only thing the song consists of is a distorted audio clip of Aaron Bruno talking about a creature he saw, as if he was on a C-SPAN program making a speech.
  • Also "My Nightmare's Dream".
• Lyrical Tic: "YEAH!" and "HEY!".
• Non-Appearing Title: "Megalithic Symphony", "Soul Wars" and "My Nightmare's Dream".
• Precision F-Strike: At the very end of "Jump on My Shoulders".
  • Listening close to the second "Burn it down, baby, burn it burn it down" in the chorus of "Burn It Down" will reveal this.
  • Also used at the start of "THISKIDSNOTALRIGHT", right after the opening riff.
• Revolving Door Band: The band has had 14 different members in a mere 8 year time period.
• Scatting: "Sail" has a nice "la de la de da" bridge.
• Subverted Kids' Show: The Framing Device for the "Kill Your Heroes" music video.
• Title-Only Chorus: "Sail". Or rather, "SAIL!"
  • "Burn It Down" and "All I Need".
• A Wild Rapper Appears!: Parts of "Knights Of Shame" feature rapping, before switching back to Aaron Bruno's vocals just as suddenly.
  • The beginning of "Sound Witness System" is this, before is switches to Aaron singing the rest of the song.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Essentially all of "Kill Your Heroes".
  Well I met an old man dying on a train.
  No more destination, no more pain.
  Well he said one thing, before I graduate.
  Never let your fear decide your fate.

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