Nerf Herder

About

Follow @nerfherder_band Damn! The combined forces of foreign wars, unbridled capitalism, a politically divided nation and the semi-controlled vestiges of a world pandemic make waking up in the morning a complete and utter drag. Then suddenly, like a bunch of furry-scene Mighty Mouse cosplayers coming to save the day, pop-punk jesters Nerf Herder pop up again for a round of Whac-A-Mole you can never beat. On June 8, frontman Parry Gripp’s crew return to the greater punk radar sharing the story about how nearly everyone in his band contracted COVID-19. Couched in 240 seconds of pure pop-punk perfection, it’s more fun than a cadre of ProTooled pop princes and princesses being intubated. “This is a song where we recorded the music a few years ago before the pandemic and has been sitting around waiting for lyrics,” reveals chief Herder Gripp. “And then COVID happened and we got COVID. And I'm like, 'Boom! Let me just make this song really fast.’ I recorded the vocals while I had COVID. Within three days after [recording] the thing, we were just going to release it. And then we thought, 'Let's release it through FAT.'" Nerf Herder ’s slice o’ life vignettes are high in joy and low on pretentiousness. From the early days that spawned 1996’s legendary single “Van Halen” and a solid self-titled debut LP on Arista to arriving at the stable of Fat Wreck Chords artists, Gripp and his Herd-mates—lead guitarist Linus of Hollywood (who has yet to contract COVID), bassist Ben Pringle and drummer Steve Sherlock—have returned to remind you that in the face of life’s unrelenting sadness, there is always reason to laugh and pogo or discover that your zipper is down. Gripp is an affable guy who has created a successful cottage industry of his own, writing and recording blink-and-miss-’em songs for cartoons, jingles for products that don’t exist and love songs to everything from kittens (“Cat Flushing A Toilet”) to carbohydrates (“Do You Like Waffles?”)—and picking up an Emmy Award for h