Friendship Commanders release new full-length album »Bear« today on Magnetic Eye Records; share new single & music video »Drain«!
Nashville, Tennessee based grunge/alternative/hard rock duo Friendship Commanders celebrates the release of their fourth full-length album »Bear« with a brand new music video for »Drain«!
»Bear« was just released this Friday, October 10th, 2025 via Magnetic Eye Records.
Tracklist:
01. Keeping Score
02. Drain
03. Dripping Silver
04. Melt
05. New
06. X
07. Midheaven
08. Imperfect
09. Found
10. Dead & Discarded Girls
Courtesy of All Noir PR:
Friendship Commanders reveal and stream their complete new album »Bear« and a new music video for the track »Drain« today, October 10, 2025. »Bear« is out now via Magnetic Eye Records and available for purchase HERE.
Friendship Commanders comment on the album: “I have spent my life feeling like an outsider, which can be cool in some contexts but isolating in others”, Buick Audra explains. “As I wrote the songs that would become this album, I was able to pinpoint where I have often been a misfit, but also where I have always belonged – something, I had never truly looked at. Being on the outside can also be beautiful, and now I’m glad to be here. There is an arc to this album, one that is also illustrated in the sounds and performances. It was powerful to create the recordings with Jerry and Kurt, and I think it’s our boldest body of work to date. I hope it finds whoever needs it. And to anyone on the margins of something: you always belong with us.”
Jerry Roe writes: “I feel like we’ve done everything that I’ve ever wanted to do within the bounds of heavy melodic rock on this record,” the drummer and bass player continues. “We pushed the arrangements into wonderful, adventurous and expansive places, got our tones and parts refined within an inch of their lives, and of course all of this was easy and fun to do, because Buick wrote such an incredible batch of songs. Kurt really captured and mixed this all so perfectly too. There’s nobody better for what we do. If this is the last record that I ever made, I would feel like I said and did everything I wanted to as a musician in this life.”
Photo credit: Jamie Goodsell
Friendship Commanders also announced more US live dates for Fall 2025. Please see below for an updated list of currently confirmed shows.
Watch the video for »Drain« HERE.
Listen to »Bear« HERE.
Friendship Commanders are not just any band within the wider musical cosmos of heavy rock and stoner metal. Artistic excellence, reflected in the two Grammy wins of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Buick Audra as well as the status of drummer and bass player Jerry Roe as one of the most sought after studio percussionists, paired with outstanding lyrical intelligence have once again flown together organically to shape their forthcoming album »Bear«.
»Bear« was written around the realisation that Buick Audra had essentially been kicked out of womanhood. This album is a documentation of her awareness also while cataloguing other areas of human connection: art, outsider culture, and dark rock venues – all places where empathy and creativity grow wild. Audra and Jerry Roe arranged and performed the fourth full-length of Friendship Commanders album to have two sides to it, musically: heavy and light, salt and sugar, fire and air, and lost and found.
Although hailing from Nashville, Tennessee these denizens of the ‘Music City’ kindly beg to differ. Friendship Commanders’ sound draws from sludge, doom, heavy metal, and grunge with roots in punk and hardcore, among other guitar driven styles.
Friendship Commanders were originally conceived as a side project by the two industry veterans Buick Audra and Jerry Roe, whose accolades have already been mentioned above. When the duo found common ground, they were able to bring all their combined musical excellence, perspectives, precision, and power to their new band.
Their early works, the EPs »Garfield« (2015) and »Junebug« (2017) as well as the debut full-length »Ave« (2016) were all self-recorded as well as self-produced in their own studio, Fort Knockout, and supported live with regional tours.
Friendship Commanders’ sophomore album »Bill« (2018) was co-produced by the band with Steve Albini and engineered at his Chicago studio, Electrical Audio. Working with Albini proved a pivotal experience for the duo, both personally and professionally. »Bill« reached a notably larger audience and allowed national touring. Following Albini’s passing in 2024, the band released his original analogue mixes of the project, »Bill – The Steve Albini Mixes«.
Although the duo’s members maintained other ventures, Friendship Commanders had developed into a focal endeavour for them both. Their again self-produced 2020 EP, »Hold On To Yourself«, was the beginning of their by now years-long collaboration with Kurt Ballou, who mixed the record. He also mixed their self-produced pandemic-era singles »Stonechild / Your Reign Is Over« (2020), »Altar / Land Of Men« (2021), and »And If My Body« (2022). These were later compiled on a limited vinyl release entitled »Release Of The Rest« (2022). The singles also marked a departure from the duo’s previous punk and hardcore leanings while introducing a heavier, sludgier sensibility.
Friendship Commanders recorded and co-produced their third album »Mass« again with Ballou at his GodCity Studio in Salem, MA. Audra recorded and produced her vocals at her Nashville studio, and Ballou then mixed the tracks. With »Mass« (2023), a concept album about memory, language, and the state of Massachusetts, the duo took the important next step of reaching a global audience.
»Bear« was again co-produced by band members Buick Audra and Jerry Roe. The duo returned to Salem to work along once more with their longtime collaborator, Kurt Ballou, who also tracked the instrumental performances and mixed the record. As a result, the songs with a huge range of musical ideas and expressions are unified in sound as well as in theme, which runs throughout the record in various ways: the ever-elusive idea of belonging, where it occurs, and where it absolutely does not.
With »Bear«, Friendship Commanders present a rare sparkling gem of an album, heavy yet captivating, shiny yet dark, and songs that brim with important meaning. »Bear« is easy to get into, but beware, this album will draw its listeners into fascinating and thought-provoking depths!
Produced by Friendship Commanders & Kurt Ballou.
Recorded by Kurt Ballou at GodCity, Salem, MA (US).
Vocal recording by Buick Audra at Fort Knockout, Nashville, TN (US).
Additional engineering by Jerry Roe at Fort Knockout, Nashville, TN (US).
Assistant engineering by Zach Weeks at GodCity, Salem, MA (US).
Mixed by Kurt Ballou at GodCity, Salem, MA (US).
Mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Portland, OR (US).
Cover artwork by Jerry Roe & Buick Audra.
Layout by Buick Audra & Keith Brogdon.
Line-up:
Buick Audra – songs, guitar, vocals, co-producer
Jerry Roe – drums, percussion, bass, synths, co-producer
Friendship Commanders Tour Dates:
10 Oct 2025 Tulsa, OK (US) Whittier Bar
16 Oct 2025 Columbus, OH (US) Ace of Cups
17 Oct 2025 Lexington, KY (US) Al’s Bar
18 Oct 2025 Frederick, MD (US) Café 611
19 Oct 2025 Allston, MA (US) O’Brien’s
20 Oct 2025 Brooklyn, NY (US) The Wood Shop
22 Oct 2025 Richmond, VA (US) Bandito’s
23 Oct 2025 Raleigh, NC (US) Slim’s
24 Oct 2025 Nashville, TN (US) The Cobra
07 Nov 2025 Austin, TX (US) Raven Room at Crowbar
08 Nov 2025 Houston, TX (US) 1810 Ojeman
09 Nov 2025 Fort Worth, TX (US) The Cicada
11 Nov 2025 Albuquerque, NM (US) TBA
12 Nov 2025 Las Vegas, NV (US) The Griffin
13 Nov 2025 Los Angeles, CA (US) The Redwood Bar
14 Nov 2025 Santa Cruz, CA (US) The Jury Room
15 Nov 2025 San Francisco, CA (US) Kilowatt
16 Nov 2025 Palmdale, CA (US) Transplants Brewing Co.
19 Nov 2025 Bellingham, WA (US) Waterfront Tavern
20 Nov 2025 Portland, OR (US) High Water Mark
21 Nov 2025 Seattle, WA (US) Bad Bar
23 Nov 2025 Laramie, WY (US) Ruffed Up Duck
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well