Whole Wheat Bread is a band featuring Aaron Abraham on vocals/guitar/bass, … Read Full Bio ↴Whole Wheat Bread is a band featuring Aaron Abraham on vocals/guitar/bass, Joseph Largen aka Mr. Whitefolks on drums and Will Frazier on bass. All three members of the band grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and life there largely influenced the band’s sound that might be best described as “dirty south punk rock” but contains elements of several genres including punk, crunk, reggae, rap and metal. “I call it the Baltimore of Florida,” says principal songwriter Aaron Abraham about his hometown, “if you look at Baltimore compared to the rest of the US, you might roll thru certain parts and think it has no hope and it’s kinda like that in Jax where everything is isolated so it’s easy to fall into traps.”

Abraham was intent on not falling and started the band as a way to cope and ultimately rising up from hardship. “Jacksonville is a poor and ignorant city,” Abraham continues, “many people who live there have never been anywhere else so I feel to rise up out of that takes a special kind of person.”

After several years on the road, honing their chops nationwide with the likes of Rancid, Bad Brains, Bouncing Souls, Gym Class Heroes, Wu-Tang Clan, Suicidal Tendencies and others, it’s safe to say the band has risen from their humble beginnings in the Southeast. They’ve performed to thousands at major festivals including Coachella, Bamboozle and Warped Tour but they never forget their roots. The band reps their home turf hard no matter what part of the country they may be in at any given time. Aaron shrugs it off with gratitude, “many bands and rappers pay homage to their hometown because it’s what they know and it’s where they got their courage so I have to thank my town and people for that because their aren’t many voices in our town that come with credibility.”

Credibility is something Whole Wheat Bread has earned on both sides of the musical fence – the punk and rap worlds. The game’s elite is down with WWB and whether that’s Lil Jon on the rap side or Tim Armstrong for punk, the band has connected with the artists that have influenced them and now, remarkably view the band as peers. Rancid has invited the band on the road while Lil Jon invited them to play on his upcoming album. “They can see the authenticity of our sound plus Lil Jon loves punk and Tim Armstrong loves rap,” says Aaron, “me and him were talking about T.I. and Lil Jon would talk to me about Bad Brains.”

The band’s unique guitar-charged punk rock mixed with southern hip-hop is perfectly constructed for the iPod-on-shuffle generation who enjoys their music rap, punk, reggae, rock, all mixed together and all points in between. “We can play a show of punk songs and someone from Jamaica will come up to me after the show and ask me, are one of y’all from the Caribbean?” says Aaron, “the different influences have always been there so I see more songs coming that are exactly that and less songs that are simply a punk song.”

Hearts of Hoodlums is the band's new album. It was produced by Travis Huff (Yellowcard, Armor For Sleep) with guest appearances by rapper Murs and punk rocker Mike McColgan of Street Dogs. Hearts of Hoodlums showcases the band’s versatility from the balls-out metal of “I Can’t Think” to the epic “Staying True” starting with acoustic guitars and string flourishes only to end with the band rocking out in full-unabashed glory. The album’s opener “Bombs Away” shines with vocal contributions from Mike McColgan of Street Dogs and a lyrical message that hits home. According to Abraham the song is about “the war, the effect of the economy, immigration and so on”. He continues, “it all seems so senseless and all that happens in the end is a loss.”

The catchy “Girlfriend Like This” has a reggae backbeat and features samples that would sound at home on a Lee Scratch Perry album. The band’s homage to repping your home turf “Throw Your Sets Up” features southern rap with distorted guitars sounding somewhat like a hybrid of Outkast and N.E.R.D.

Fans of the band’s punk edge won’t be disappointed as while the album is versatile, there’s plenty to mosh to like “Lower Class Man” or “New Age Southern Baptist N*gga From Da Hood” of which Aaron simply says, “hallelujah my n*gga.”

Whole Wheat Bread will perform on March 19 at SXSW in Austin, TX. They are planning a UK trip this April.

Overrated
Whole Wheat Bread Lyrics

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Take me now
To tear up the town
And burn our bridges down
Burn it all down

Cause I'm so aggravated
I swear I hate it
Scream it out loud you keep the fame cause its overrated

Waiting now
Standing in line, well get in the show somehow
Just fight through the crowd
Cause this thing is so contagious
You can't contain it
Scream it out loud you keep the fame cause its overrated

I need to find a reason
Why do I hate it
It seems to me that everything's overrated
So I'll be found
Far from this town
Burning all our bridges down
Burn it all down

Cause I'm so aggravated
I swear I hate it
Scream it out loud you keep the fame cause its overrated

It's overrated

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Whole Wheat Bread's "Overrated" are a biting critique on the superficiality of fame and the celebrity culture that surrounds it. The song begins with the singer expressing his frustration with the current state of things and his desire to "tear up the town" and "burn our bridges down". The underlying cynicism and disillusionment of these lines are palpable, suggesting that the singer has reached a point of disillusionment with the world around him and that he is looking for a way to break free from its constraints.

As the song progresses, the focus shifts to the nature of fame and how it is a shallow and ultimately unsatisfying experience. The lines "Scream it out loud you keep the fame cause its overrated" suggest that the singer is addressing someone who is clinging to their fame, but not really understanding the true nature of what it means. This is a common trope in the world of celebrity, where many find themselves addicted to the attention and adulation that comes with fame, but are ultimately left feeling empty and unfulfilled.

The chorus of the song is particularly poignant, as it emphasizes the theme of disillusionment with the world around us. The repetition of the line "cause I'm so aggravated, I swear I hate it" is a nod to the sense of despair that often comes with recognizing the shortcomings of the world we live in. Overall, the song is a powerful indictment of the shallow and unsatisfying nature of fame and the culture that surrounds it.

Line by Line Meaning

Take me now
I want to go out and do something exciting

To tear up the town
To create chaos and excitement wherever we go

And burn our bridges down
To sever any ties or relationships we have and start fresh

Burn it all down
To destroy everything that's holding us back

Cause I'm so aggravated
I'm irritated and annoyed

I swear I hate it
I really dislike this situation

Scream it out loud you keep the fame cause its overrated
People crave attention and fame, but it's not worth it

Waiting now
We're patiently waiting for something exciting to happen

Standing in line, well get in the show somehow
We'll do whatever it takes to be a part of the excitement

Just fight through the crowd
Push past the obstacles and barriers to get where we want to go

Cause this thing is so contagious
The excitement and chaos is spreading and everyone wants to be a part of it