Seattle band Naked Giants are well aware of their musical heritage. "When we travel, I think people want to believe [grunge is] still alive," says bassist Gianni Aiello. "It's kind of fun to be a three-piece rick band from Seattle and convince people, 'No man, rock and roll, grunge, it's all still there, man.'"

Now with a debut album to support, Naked Giants — Aiello, along with guitarist Grant Mullen and drummer Henry LaVallee — are taking that story far and wide. In town for a show at the Turf Club in St. Paul, Naked Giants stopped at The Current for a session hosted by Jade.

Naked Giants' debut full-length is called SLUFF, and there's a thread circulating that it is "an album about nothing." Mullen says that's inaccurate. "It didn't have any intent to be about anything [specifically]," he explains. "But it is about stuff."

A perfect example of the substance of the band's tunes is the lead single, "Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)"; its hints at paranoia are no accident. "I personally do deal with a lot of paranoia and anxiety," Mullen explains. "And someone actually from KEXP in Seattle [Michael Tedder] wrote a review that analyzed my lyrics being about paranoia and anxiety, which is pretty interesting."

Still quite new to the musical universe, Naked Giants are seeking their raison d'être. "There are already so many dumb rock bands, why do you need another one?" Aiello muses. "That's our journey: figuring out what's Naked Giants' purpose in this thing. Right now, I think it's just to inspire people to get out there, groove your booty, fight the man — and we're still figuring out how to fight the man. But we'll do it someday."

Drummer LaVallee distills it to something more visceral and accessible. "It's all about eliciting emotion," he says.

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete in-studio session.

Songs Performed

"Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)"
"Dead Alien"
"SLUFF"
All songs from Naked Giants' 2018 debut album, SLUFF, available on New West Records.

Hosted by Jade
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor

External Links

Naked Giants - official site

"Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)" - song review by Michael Tedder (KEXP)

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