Based out of Boston, Massachusetts, Vundabar is a band that has a style of their very own. Best described as a band with catchy timing and well-written poetic lyrics, Vundabar is a post-punk, indie rock fusion with jangle pop and surf rock elements. They have even picked up garage rock, classic rock, and lo-fi tones throughout the years. This band is truly an ever-changing piece of art, and we are excited to talk about them today.

Vundabar was formed in 2013 by guitarist/vocalist Brandon Hagen and drummer/pianist Drew McDonald. The two had worked together prior in a project called “No Nada” that broke up. Shortly after, Hagen and McDonald disbanded, they decided to stick together and continue writing. After McDonald introduced Hagen to bass player Zach Abramo, the three felt the click. Quickly finding their groove, it wasn’t long before Vundabar was created.

On April 24th, 2013, Vundabar released their debut album “Antics,” featuring ten songs including “Holy Toledo.” This song stands as the band's 8th most played song in 2024 on Spotify charts.

The story doesn’t stop there. In 2015, Vundabar released “Gawk,” bringing in more gritty tones from Hagen and the addition of synth from McDonald. This album was released on the family label “Gawk,” established by Hagen. The label continues to be a platform to launch new Vundabar projects and foster the careers of new artists. The album “Gawk” remains a reference point for Vundabar's core sound, and in recent years, the album has resurfaced with the song “Alien Blues” that blew up after the track was featured in many online videos, pushing the song up to a current 490 million plays on Spotify alone.

Unfortunately, the band would face changes in 2016 as bassist Zach Abramo temporarily left the band to pursue higher roles as a guitar player in a different project. Greyson Kirtland filled the position as bassist and toured with the band until 2018 when Abramo returned to Vundabar.

The band quickly put together a new album “Smell Smoke” and released it. In an interview with AudioTree, the band revealed that the original name for this album was “Cracked Mask,” but the band later decided to change it.

Vundabar also later began to experiment with formulas and changed its process for songwriting. In 2020, the band's fourth album “Either Light” showcased the indie rock side of the band with a more mellow vibe. In an interview with Allston Pudding publication, Vundabar expressed how the band took a different approach to the music for this album, using piano and synthesizers to base the writing process.

As the band toured, the new sound started to blend with the past grit of Vundabar’s collection. This ultimately resulted in the release of the 2021 single “Devil For The Fire.” This edgy song would set the tone for the band's next album. It was around this time that the song “Alien Blues” would go viral, inspiring the band to include the song in feature albums.

On April 15th, 2022, Vundabar released the album “Devil For The Fire.” That would not mark the end of 2022 for the band. On September 16th, the band released their sixth album “Good Old,” featuring new songs and acoustic takes on old songs.

Vundabar gave us all a double single with the 2023 release of “Digital Forest/sugar pill,” featuring two new songs to the collection and once again with a new take and sound from the crew. The song "Digital Forest" gives a 60s garage rock vibe, while "Sugar Pills" brings a taste reminiscent of The Talking Heads. These tracks absolutely achieve Rock and Roll status and further showcase the band's catalog of sound.

Most recently, Vundabar released a photo of them inside of “Golden Record NYC,” clearly working on new material. It is very likely we will see a new 2024 album, and if history repeats, then we may see two albums.

We will keep you posted on any updates we find. Until then, check out the content and reports below. Keep on rockin'.