If We Stayed Alive

by 12RODS

supported by

Nicholas Kent First listen… I absolutely LOVED this… favorite track… that’s TOUGH! Favorite track: Comfortable Situation.

cascore such perfect production, i need this album in my veins <3 Favorite track: Twice.

DEAN RANDALL Because it’s 12 RODS.

thequietcanon I literally can’t wait for July 14th! 12 Rods alive at First Ave, If We Stayed Alive ships, and the prisoners of the Bastille are freed…at last!!!

Der33 That there exists a new 12RODS is the best thing ever.

EDIT: it is the best thing ever.

more...

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$10 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of If We Stayed Alive via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 7 days

edition of 600

Purchasable with gift card

$29.99 USD or more
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Mystery Swirl vinyl previously only available at the record release show.

U.S. only shipping at this time. Sorry no international orders at this time.

Includes unlimited streaming of If We Stayed Alive via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 5 days

edition of 15

$60 USD or more
Limited Edition Metallic Blue and Black Swirl Vinyl LP with Gatefold
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of If We Stayed Alive via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Sold Out
Limited Edition Test Pressing (7 Copies) - Blue Vinyl
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of If We Stayed Alive via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Sold Out
Autographed Mystery Swirl Vinyl - If We Stayed Alive
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Ultra limited edition "Mystery Swirl" Vinyl signed by Ryan Olcott.

Previously the "Mystery Swirl" vinyl was only available at the First Avenue release show.

U.S. shipping only. Sorry, no international orders.

Includes unlimited streaming of If We Stayed Alive via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Sold Out
Limited Edition Orange and Clear Swirl Vinyl LP with Gatefold
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Includes unlimited streaming of If We Stayed Alive via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Sold Out

1.	All I Can Think About 01:47	buy track
2.	My Year (This Is Going To Be) 03:03	buy track
3.	Private Spies 04:32	buy track
4.	Comfortable Situation 05:11	buy track
5.	The Beating 03:48	buy track
6.	Hide Without Delay 05:13	buy track
7.	Twice 04:41	buy track

about

When Ryan Olcott, songwriter and frontman of Twin Cities’ iconic indie rock band 12 Rods, found unfinished Rods demos during lockdown, he was surprised. When he realized they were good, he was shocked. He quickly set to finishing and recording the compositions, which became If We Stayed Alive, the first 12 Rods album in twenty-one years. “These are songs that I forgot about,” he explains, “but upon finding them, I thought, ‘Wow, these are actually okay.’” That was the easy part. Reacquainting himself with twenty-year-removed craft and technique took some getting used to -- some parts longer than others. He recorded all the instruments in a week, but vocals took a bit longer. “Oh my god!” he laughs, “it took a couple days to get my voice back with that range and that power, but I could do it.” Any cobwebs that needed dusting are long gone. If We Stayed Alive is everything longtime fans have wanted, and the perfect introduction to what some called “America’s Radiohead" and what others have called one of the best indie bands of the ‘90s.

Despite these songs being written twenty-two years ago, their sound, themes, mood are evergreen. Lead single, pop nugget “My Year (This Is Going To Be),” is both the appropriate ticket to a new era and a souvenir of the past, gussied up in self-awareness, humor, and perhaps the faintest bit of hope. “Cause with all my calculations/Everything looks so, so clear/This is going to be my year.” Which of us didn’t watch the dawn of 2020 thinking the same, only to have confused stellar light with nuclear flash? Everything magnetic in vintage Rods -- pitch-perfect, Beach Boys-esque harmonies, clean, rhythmic guitar, grooving bass, steady drums -- and that clear, plaintive voice invoking our deepest, silliest wish: that everything’s going to be okay.

And that’s only one of the album’s seven bangers. From album opener “All I Can Think About,” with its subdued inner monologue musings that meander from world-weary to awestruck, to the grunge-indebted “Comfortable Situation,” to the smooth, loungey “The Beating,” it’s clear that Olcott isn’t just picking up where he left off, but having fun while doing it.

“To be honest,” Olcott says, “I think it’s the best material I’ve had to offer so far.” If you had asked me a few years ago whether the reunion 12 Rods album could be their best, I don’t know how I would have answered. But if you had shown me videos of UFOs cruising the globe and told me an Air Force general didn’t rule out extraterrestrial responsibility, I would have called shenanigans on that. 2023 is weird as hell. And it’s about to get weirder. What else can I say? It’s 12 Rods. It’s new. It’s everything we’ve waited for.

credits

released July 7, 2023

by Ryan Olcott at the Carleton Lofts in St. Paul, MN shortly between 2021-22.

Recorded, mixed and mastered in Digital Performer 24bit / 88.2k
Drums recorded downstairs on a Yamaha MT8X cassette with Sony F mics aimed at a pre-Export, 4-piece Pearl kit with composite shells & thick Evans heads.

Six drum mics: Kick, snare, pre-mix of OHs and tom mics because the 8-track records up to only four channels at a time. All other instruments tracked in the audio room on Macs with UAD processors. Audio monitored through Genelec, Pyramid, Bose and Apple speakers with D/A Myteks. Vocals recorded in an iso-booth through a SM7 / API / Mytek A/D SPDIF. Offset Fender guitars, basses and various copies played through Vox & Line 6 digital amps and UAD simulators. Occasionally there were mic’d cabs with Shures & Sonys / APIs / etc. Keyboards & Synths programmed on a Yamaha MU2000.

Photography, art, layout by Michael Vallera

license

about

12RODS Minneapolis, Minnesota

This is the official Bandcamp page for the Minneapolis band, 12RODS. We have a brand new record being released this summer, and plenty of other new merch & fun things coming soon!!!!!

contact / help

Contact 12RODS

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like 12RODS, you may also like:

now i feel it
by c.Kostra

supported by 24 fans who also own “If We Stayed Alive”

Been following Ryan Olcott's work for nearly 20 years now, from 12 Rods (the best of alternative 90s music) to Mystery Palace (glitchy melodic greatness) and now c. Kostra has gone and done it again, having quickly grown on me with it's soulful and inventive playfulness. DEAN RANDALL
go to album
HEY WHAT
by Low

supported by 23 fans who also own “If We Stayed Alive”

Mimi was so unbelievably amazing. More is a perfect track in a flawless album. ollie gn
go to album
To See the Next Part of the Dream
by Parannoul

supported by 20 fans who also own “If We Stayed Alive”

An extraordinnairement refreshing album that makes you want to be free! Tchador
go to album
I Wish You Could See Yourself Right Now
by Gentle Organisms

The aptly named Gentle Organisms specialize in quietly radiant songs centered on tender melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 2, 2023
go to album
Sometimes I Forget You're Human Too
by Bored at My Grandmas House

Melodic alt-pop in the vein of Soccer Mommy is driven by winding guitar lines and augmented with dreamy shoegaze elements. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 14, 2021
go to album
Talking Secret - Single
by MILLY

Dreamy, hallucinogenic shoegaze and slowcore on this single from L.A.’s Milly, with syrupy guitars and woozy vocals. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 28, 2019
go to album
After the Magic
by Parannoul

supported by 14 fans who also own “If We Stayed Alive”

It's a masterpiece! izumi Kurihara
go to album

Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Attic frontman Meister Cagliostro talks heavy metal theatrics and the band's new album.

listen now