Singled Out: The Undertaking's No Friends

San Diego rockers The Undertaking just released their new single "No Friends" ahead of their new album "Funeral Psalms" (Out 4/30) and to celebrate we asked vocalist Austin Visser to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

'No Friends' was a fun song for the band to create. The idea started when [guitarist] Johnny [Mercuri] tried to write a riff that was too hard to play in an effort to challenge himself in the writing process. His office is across the hallway from mine, so he called me over to show me the riff.... and I said, 'Um... that's definitely a song.' Due to the pounding nature of the intro riff, the rest of the song fell into place with frantic verses and chorus. Initially, we returned to the breakdown at the end of the song but we decided to cut off. This decision ratcheted the tension in the final few seconds to an intense level that never really releases.

Lyrically, 'No Friends' is the ultimate 'plank-eye syndrome' song. We are so quick to judge the splinter in someone else's eye while completely omitting the plank in our own! The song starts out by blaming my hurt/trauma on others but I quickly switch to self-evaluation. The chorus lists off all the reasons I'm a bad friend (selfish, rude, conceited, vain.... none of which are good attributes to have). I'm literally condemning these behavior traits! Needless to say, I have some work to do and need to be a better friend. Also... you could be better too.

Finally, the title of the song is an homage to NBA beast Russell Westbrook who once said that in a basketball game he "has no friends, just Spalding."
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about the album here

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