I Fight Dragons Signs To A Major Label

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 5, 2010 6:20PM

We've had a love / wince relationship with I Fight Dragons from the get-go.The band writes really enjoyably punchy pop-rock tunes straight out of the Rivers Cuomo school of music. But they diluted it with cheesy onstage superhero theatrics (that they claim to have since dropped). We really respect their grassroots marketing and excellent grasp of social media -- in no small thanks to consulting services from Natiiv Arts & Media -- and do not begrudge them the success they've received.

Of course we winced when we recently heard they had plans to play onstage with one-hit wonders Cobra Starship and the execrable misogynistic emo poster kids 3OH!3. So it isn't totally shocking that they would parlay their hard won grassroots work and sell it out to Atlantic Records. If you're willing to sell out in one venue you'll probably do it across the board. Which, you know, is totally fair. I Fight Dragons never pretended to be an indie band. The mere fact they hired a consultant at the start of their career indicates they always had their sights aimed higher. We're just a little let down seeing a group that had already proven you CAN go it on your own hand over the keys to a corporate driver.

In an interview with the AV Club this morning lead Dragon Brian Mazzaferri said of the label, "They're really interested in us keeping our creative control, as opposed to some other people, who were like, 'We really like what you're doing, but how 'bout we take out the chip tune?'"

Brian, we've got a whole slew of other local artists who heard exactly the same thing -- for the most recent example of a label giving a band "total creative control check out OK Go -- so, um, good luck with that.