Red MusicBefore the world turned upside down, The Unlikely Candidates felt like they were on top of it.
The week of March 9, the Texas-based band earned their first number-one Billboard hit when their single “Novocaine” hit the top of the Alternative Songs chart. By March 11, the World Health Organization had declared the COVID-19 outbreak to be a pandemic.
“We were kind of the last band to hit the top spot while everything was still normal, while people were still in their cars listening to rock radio, and otherwise living enjoyable little corona-free lives,” frontman Kyle Morris tells ABC Audio.
Morris adds that, since his band hit number one just before everything went crazy, they were able to “celebrate and have our moment before this big storm cloud approached.”
“I’m pretty thankful for that, at least,” he says.
“Novocaine” was written about Morris’ “slacker lifestyle,” consisting of “not really going anywhere, but also lamenting it as well.” However, in a way, the current state of affairs actually encourages being a slacker — what with all the quarantining and people never leaving their houses — and the irony isn’t lost on Morris.
“Now we live in this strange world where being a slacker just kind of coexists with being a successful, contributing member to society,” Morris says.
“It’s like I went from the highest highs back to the couch again,” he muses. “Which is kinda funny.”
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
(Video contains uncensored profanity.)
