I Fight Dragons returns, and makes a stand as a band outside of time.

This is the "newest" band photo I could find?
Yet it's old enough to still be working that whole "chiptune" persona.

I seemed to remember having a semi-rocky relationship with the Chicago band I Fight Dragons, and a search through the Chicagoist archives shows I’ve been writing about the band for well over a decade now. It looks like I was a little snarky at times when writing about them, but always gave them kudos for their tunes. Then they disappeared from the public gaze for so long I assumed they broke up and just didn’t tell anyone, so imagine my surprise listening to a friend’s podcast featuring I Fight Dragons' bass player that brought to my attention both the band’s current existence and the fact they released a new album at the end of 2019!

The band began as a combination of nerd-rock and what can be best described as super proficient alternative power-pop, but they shed most of their comic book and video game affectations long ago. So on the new Canon Eyes we’re left with a band writing big rock numbers that sound like they’re from another time. This is the kind of music that bands used to make when striving to hit it big and get on a major label (which, they kind of already did). It’s almost stunning in how straightforward its ambitions are—“Hey, let’s put out an album of big rock songs!”

To my ears this sounds like a project by a bunch of craftspeople who know exactly how to do what they do and do it well. There’s even a smidge of swing in the new album that is perhaps a nod to the fact the group is comfortable with being a back-burner affair for all involved, whose heat gets turned up and down as members’ interests wax and wane. And that’s totally O.K.

For a band that got their start through self-promotion on digital platforms, and mastered a genius little bit of crowdfunding back in the day when crowdfunding was barely a thing, it seem odd that the new album came in via whisper rather than roar. However they have held onto some of their old habits by offering the digital version of the album to download for free to anyone interested—all it’ll cost you is an email address.



If you're more into physical copies of things (and I totally understand if you are) then you can get the new album on CD or vinyl as well.