Ways I would describe TFC sound like insults:

Sounds like the menu music in a gritty Sega Genesis beat em up.

Sounds like interstitial guitar show throw away jams.

Sounds like Johnny Demarco. They probably make faces like Johnny Demarco.

Sounds like Moistboyz demos.


I don't know how they transcend all of this and come out the other end so incredible, so amazing, so confidently stupid. The arrogance of it would put me off in almost any other situation.

The Fucking Champs are all timers, unfuckwithable. Not Crap.

Tuolumne wrote: Mon Dec 15, 2025 12:02 pmWhen they were active there were some who dismissed them as ironic indies playing their interpretation of metal.

I totally understand this perspective, especially if you just look at them and go "they aren't metal dudes, how dare they do metal" and only hear a few snippets of their music. I think I was skeptical the first time I heard them, but I was like that with most of my favorite bands (Estradasphere, Animals As Leaders and others) and once I really lisrtened I fell in love.

It's hard to pick favorite tunes when they have so many wonderful jams, but a few that stand out are "You've got a Thirst, Portland" (that one triumphant lead crescendo at 1:01, OMG), Valkyrie is Dying, Lost, and of course Some Swords.

GuyLaCroix wrote: Tue Dec 16, 2025 10:24 am Ways I would describe TFC sound like insults:

Sounds like the menu music in a gritty Sega Genesis beat em up.

Sounds like interstitial guitar show throw away jams.

Sounds like Johnny Demarco. They probably make faces like Johnny Demarco.

Sounds like Moistboyz demos.


I don't know how they transcend all of this and come out the other end so incredible, so amazing, so confidently stupid. The arrogance of it would put me off in almost any other situation.

The Fucking Champs are all timers, unfuckwithable. Not Crap.

It was the over the top ridiculousness that got me. They skated that fine line between clever and stupid. Their confidence and serious approach sells it. They are not just mocking the previous 50 years or so of rock and roll, they are celebrating it and marinating themselves in it. They sincerely love what they are doing and there is a lot of joy and a love of music found in their music. For me they were the logical conclusion of '90's punk rock guys with short hair getting into Black Sabbath and playing ridiculous heavy music. They took that ironic appreciation of heavy metal and made it cool for those of us who never liked the costumes or the fashion. I went from classic rock in jr high to punk rock in high school. I never got into metal until college and after I started regularly smoking pot. I have realized over time that the usual path was metal to punk for most people but I never liked the fashion or the look. Plus growing up in Chicago in the 1980's with such a vibrant punk scene made skipping over metal easy. Bands like Melvins and Soundgarden made it ok for me to like metal. The Fucking Champs made it ok for me to love it. Bands like The Sword and Castle Rat exist in that same space of loving the spectacle of heavy metal.

Favorite track is "Lee Tom" off "III". That one always gets me. The riffs never stop.

Yea and see, I don't care for The Sword (they're all too handsome) or Castle Rat (I play old school DND these days, but still can't be moved by this band)

They don't transcend the medium or anything. That's totally fine, you can put your line out and plenty will bite it.

But TFC are throwing chum at sharks. Whipping the seas into a foamy, bloody mess. I'd get a gnarly, life-threatening mouthful of any of you to get but a nibble of TFC in the process.

I feel as strongly about this band as Wilford Brimley did about cock fighting. Whatever argument you have for the logical and ill-advised nature of this thing, I don't care. It's primal, perhaps the only thing that speaks to my lizard rock brain.

Few bands can be as self-indulgent as this and get my blessing. Few bands make me pull the car over to witness the audacity of their performance committed to tape.

Fuck yes, this band.

Incredibly nice dudes. The one guy with the long hair in particular was, like, the nicest dude I've ever met level nice. Just a fucking sweetie.

They RIPPED live, too. Albums don't do much for me, but that whole genre (irony metal?) really missed me.

If they toured again I'd drive to Chicago to see em, though. Stellar live.

C Average with chops. NC, no WF.

GuyLaCroix wrote: Tue Dec 16, 2025 12:08 pm
Fuck yes, this band.

Agreed.

And you are right TFC transcended their genre, while The Sword and Castle Rat don't. What those bands do do for me and the connection I make is they celebrate the same ridiculousness with some really tasty riffs. But where they fail to transcend is with traditional song arrangements. The Fucking Champs arrangements are a thing to behold. You start in one place and end up somewhere completely else. That is inspiring to me as an amateur music maker.

Agree on The Sword but the new Castle Rat is quite good.

Tim Soete interview by FM Conan Neutron

https://www.protonicreversal.com/podcas ... msoete.mp3

Salieri metal. The tweedly stuff is especially annoying, Crap.