Aaron Bruno is tired of plastic. Not bottles — sounds. The AWOLNATION frontman’s third album, Here Come the Runts, is his rebellion against the algorithmic glaze that’s overtaken pop. “It’s become normal to have a plastic, computer sound,” he told me. “I wanted to go back to what got me involved in music — guitar-driven songs with real players.”
After Sail turned AWOLNATION into a household name, Bruno could’ve ridden that wave forever. Instead, he zigged. Runts swaps the digital sheen for something ragged and human, recorded largely with a live band and, as he put it, “a lot more sweat than plugins.” He wanted it to sound like “my best take on Born in the U.S.A., or a Cars album, or Dire Straits — but still competitive with modern low-end power.”
It’s an irony not lost on him that guitars are now the outcasts. “It’s almost punk rock to play rock and roll music,” he laughed. “When I was growing up, Guns N’ Roses and Metallica were massive. Now there are only a handful of bands who actually play their instruments. Once in a while one breaks through — like Portugal. The Man or Cage the Elephant — and it gives me hope.”
Hope, and maybe a little stubbornness. “When back-to-basics becomes the new thing, that’s fine. I’ll take that,” he said. “I just wanted to make something organic — popular, but with integrity.”
Lyrically, Here Come the Runts zooms in on the everyday American experience — friendship, frustration, and the absurdity of trying to stay sane while the world unravels. Even “Handyman,” the album’s gentler single, sneaks in a flash of paranoia. “There’s that line, ‘Scared of my government,’” I pointed out. Bruno didn’t flinch. “I don’t know anything,” he said flatly. “No one does. People get bent out of shape about leaders, whichever side they’re on. But no one really knows what’s going on. My commentary’s simple: it’s scary, but it’s not our fault. I’m just talking about the people — the hard-working ones, the beautiful parts of the country — not the politics.”
What is political, in Bruno’s world, is the planet. A lifelong surfer, he’s watched the coastline become a trash can. “After holiday weekends, I’d see diapers, cold meals, plastic everywhere,” he said. “It’s disgusting. I used to get mad, but now I try to educate people — like, ‘Do you have any idea how harmful this is?’ We can’t control big corporations, but we can control ourselves.”
That’s the core of Runts — rebellion through responsibility, power through restraint. Even the tracklist feels cinematic. “It starts with ‘Finally Coming Up for Air’ and ends with ‘Stop That Train,’” he explained. “By the end, the runts finally escape the system — or maybe they don’t survive, but at least they’re free.”
Freedom, in this case, sounds loud and alive. “People don’t always listen to albums front to back anymore,” Bruno admitted, “but I still make them that way. It matters. Songs mean more in context.”
And if you catch AWOLNATION live, he promises, it’s all real — no click tracks, no laptop trickery. “It’s chaos, it’s human, and it’s fun,” he said. “That’s the point.”
Listen to the interview above and then check out "Passion" below!
