5 Years of “FANDOM”: A Retrospective Review
Today, Waterparks (Awsten Knight, Geoff Wigington, and Otto Wood) is celebrating the 5 year anniversary of their hit album FANDOM, originally released on October 11th, 2019. The inspiration for the name of this publication (and my first introduction to Waterparks), I wanted to take a retrospective look back at the album.
FANDOM is bold, catchy, and unapologetically honest. Touching on topics such as reflecting on the end of a relationship and criticizing the pressure to stay in one box that many artists feel, Waterparks isn’t afraid to make it known how they feel. The idea of that creative pressure is something that lead singer Awsten Knight specifically touched on in an interview with DORK magazine following the album’s release, “There’s definitely a pressure to keep doing the same things because it’s the safe way. ‘Oh, they already heard you do this, and they liked it’. So you can keep doing it, and they’ll probably keep liking it. But the thing is, that won’t even work forever because people grow out of shit. And like, what if I made a thing that was pandering to whatever that I didn’t love, just because people are expecting it. What if they fucking hated that? Then all of us hate it, and that’s trash.” Upbeat, punchy songs like “Watch What Happens Next”, “Telephone” and “War Crimes” contrast with slower, more heartfelt songs like “High Definition” and “Never Bloom Again” to create a perfectly well rounded album with a song for everyone.
FANDOM saw Waterparks begin to receive more mainstream exposure and critical acclaim, garnering top 5 spots on multiple Billboard charts – including ‘Top Alternative Albums’, ‘Top Rock Albums’, and ‘Top Album Sales’ – and positive reviews from several notable publications including Rock Sound, Kerrang, and Alternative Press. The album was named by Alternative Press as one of the 50 best albums of 2019, and the single “Turbulent” took home the 2019 Rock Sound award for “Song of the Year”.
To this day, the songs on FANDOM are still highly coveted and beloved by fans. At their set at Lollapalooza this past August, songs like “Dream Boy”, “Easy to Hate”, and “[Reboot]” received some of the biggest cheers of the afternoon. There was even a chant for them to play “Group Chat”, “Really, during our first performance at Lollapalooza you want ‘Group Chat’?” Awsten remarked. Over the last 5 years, FANDOM has racked up almost 300 million streams on Spotify, including over 100 million on “I Miss Having Sex But At Least I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore” (The first Waterparks song to do so).
Group Chat Mag spoke to some Waterparks fans to get their thoughts on FANDOM:
Name: Megan M
How long have you been a fan of Waterparks?: 3 years
What is your favorite song off of FANDOM?: Easy to Hate or Dream Boy
What does 'FANDOM' mean to you? Do you have any specific memories associated with the album?: “FANDOM was my first introduction to Waterparks, back when IMHS was going viral on TikTok in 2019/2020. I didn’t start really getting into Waterparks until a couple of years later (during Greatest Hits), but FANDOM will always be special to me because of how many awesome memories I’ve made with Waterparks, including going to their concerts with my best friends and seeing them perform some of my FAVORITE songs at Lollapalooza! Also, as mentioned, the name of this publication is inspired by ‘Group Chat’! :)”
Name: Alex
How long have you been a fan of Waterparks? 4 years
What is your favorite song off of FANDOM? Dream Boy and Never Bloom Again
What does 'FANDOM' mean to you? Do you have any specific memories associated with the album? “fandom was the first parx album i heard!!! this album really helped me deal with some emotions through a breakup, and overall has been a source of joy for me. it’s also my most streamed parx album, and contains some of my all time favourite songs of mine! hearing i felt younger when we met at the aftershow in chicago really killed me i love it so much!”
Name: Isabel
How long have you been a fan of Waterparks? Since 2017
What is your favorite song off of FANDOM? Turbulent
What does 'FANDOM' mean to you? Do you have any specific memories associated with the album? “Turbulent came out 6 months after a breakup that had a huge impact on me and it was the exact song I needed at the time to listen to and just feel my feelings. FANDOM came out around the one year anniversary of said breakup, which I was still processing, but I had just moved to a new house that I loved and I was feeling excited and optimistic about life. For me the album kind of mirrored a lot of what I was feeling about that relationship though - hurt, sometimes still missing them, but ultimately wanting to put it behind me and move on to better things.”