GRITTY POET DOMINIC FIKE
Still Awesome + Angsty As Ever
When Floridian alt-rock-rap dude Dominic Fike dropped his sophomore album Sunburn in 2023, he simultaneously ushered in a new era of angst. Unlike a character such as Yungblud, who sings about life’s troubles but carries himself on a wave of overwhelming positivity, Fike lives in a grunge-esque cloud of vulnerable instability, yet strength through authenticity.
That had started three years earlier, with the nihilistically titled What Could Possibly Go Wrong?, but Sunburn took things to another level. On “Dark,” for example, the then-27 year old uttered the lines, “There was a movement in the sky this morning; The clouds tore open and it started storming on me; Looking at the roof in this broke apartment; Watch in case the walls start closing on me.”
Playwright Arthur Miller would be proud of that weighty doom. Importantly though, Fike injects his angst with a healthy dose of humor. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to call him a satirist. Take, “Dancing in the Courthouse” from Sunburn: “Put ’em on trial; Make ’em dance for it in the courthouse; Make a stand for it or it don’t count; Be the landlord of the whole town.”
This year, on the day before Halloween (make of that what you will), Fike (now 30) released his third album HOW TO QUIT SMOKING, written and recorded while embarking on his Comedy Tragedy Parody tour of North America.
The single “PANGEA” sets the tone with more gritty poetry: “Ayy, your hood is whеre my heart is; In your dingy ass apartmеnt; I was nervous thirteen floors ago; Now I’m like, ‘Let me in, and let me in, and let me in, and let me in.’”
A song like “Small Town,” meanwhile, reminds of vivid illustrations of the boredom of dusty America through movies such as Gummo and Kids. “Small town base New Orleans; The place smelled like steak and coffee; Bounced up like razor water; Stayed up real late just talking; I’ll be an empty spool.”
Ultimately, that’s the brilliance of Fike. It’s an underrated quality, in fact. The artist can paint a picture with his lyrics that is at once vibrant and downbeat, angst-ridden and hilarious. He’s depicting American life through his lens, and it’s one that millions will be able to relate to. He has the potential to be a Cobain-like figure, and god only knows that the modern world needs one.
