Alien Ant Farm bringing new music to Wildwood Saloon in Iowa City

Nearly a decade between albums is a long time, especially in an era when short attention spans are prevalent. But nine years is the period between Alien Ant Farm’s 2015 release, “Always and Forever,” and “Mantras,” which dropped in January.

“There’s no doubt that was a long time between projects, but there are some reasons why we took so long to make another album,” Alien Ant Farm guitarist Terry Corso said while calling from Denver.

“The last record we made (“Always and Forever”) wasn’t ideal. The circumstances we made it in weren’t great and it made us reluctant to make new music. It left a bad taste in our mouths.

“It’s not that we don’t like the record. It was the way it was executed. And I also must mention that a big, fat pandemic was thrown into the middle of everything, and that slowed us down. But we finally wrote some songs and made it to the studio.”

“Mantras” is worth the wait. The album is filled with songs with big hooks and catchy choruses. The new tunes are surprisingly deep.

“A lot happened to us over recent years,” Corso said. “We’ve lost loved ones. We’ve had kids. A lot of life inspired the new material. It’s funny since the line is that you have your whole life to write your first album, but you have three months to write the second album. Well, ‘Mantras’ felt like our first album, since it had been so long since we made an album. We felt refreshed, but it’s also our sixth album.”

The alt-rockers still play their high-energy cover of Michael Jackson's “Smooth Criminal,” which launched the band in 2001. Some recording artists have issues performing renditions of other star’s tunes. The Lemonheads’ Evan Dando loathed playing their hit cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” during the ’90s. Camper Van Beethoven was less than thrilled when forced by Virgin Records to record their take on Status Quo’s “Pictures of Matchstick Men” during the ’80s.

“But we’re not like that,” Corso said. “We have fun with that song. ‘Smooth Criminal’ is a great song. It brings back a lot of memories.”

Their cover of “Smooth Criminal” topped the charts in Australia and was No. 1 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts. The music video features a number of hat tips to Jackson.

“When we made the video we coordinated with Michael Jackson and his camp, since we didn’t want to make it seem like we were making fun of Michael,” Corso said. “We were paying tribute.”

It wasn’t always so easy to tell during the clip, which features a child dancer in a surgical mask.

“We showed the Jackson camp that part of the video with the kid dancing with the mask on and they asked us to remove the mask,” Corso said. “But when we reshot it, they told us to go with the footage of the mask on the kid. But we never meant any disrespect during that scene. We love Michael.”

Alien Ant Farm — which also includes vocalist Dryden Vera Mitchell, drummer Mike Cosgrove and bassist Timmy Peugh — performed at the “Michael Forever” concert in Wales in 2011.

“That was the greatest,” Corso said. “We were the only band that was asked to play. Everyone else that was there were singers. We had an unbelievable time.”

The road to Iowa

Alien Ant Farm, which will perform Saturday, June 1, 2024, at the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon in Iowa City, is on its first tour since 2019.

“We didn't want to look like deers in the headlights,” Corso said. “We worked hard to get ready for this. We’re really looking forward to going back to Iowa, since the fans are always so enthusiastic. We played these state fairs in Iowa a few times over the years, and we had no idea how intense those shows are. They take the state fairs very seriously and that’s so cool.”

Corso can’t believe Alien Ant Farm is about to turn 30.

“I guess that means we’re old,” Corso said. “It came quickly. We survived the cataclysmic event that was the asteroid hitting the record business. Not everybody is still standing, but we are.”

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