I Set My Friends on Fire

Arielle Castillo December 3, 2008 4:00AM

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Not long ago, South Florida teenagers Matt Mihana and Nabil Moo, formerly of a more by-the-numbers post-hardcore band, wanted to form a new project. They thought it would be funny to do a cover of Soulja Boy's "Crank Dat," with Matt screaming the vocals and Nabil tweaking the beat on his computers and drum machine. It became a major, near-instant hit on the newly renamed group's MySpace page, garnering some million-plus plays to date. But what's more important these days is what has happened since those heady days of summer 2007. On the strength of that cover, plus a few other original tracks, punk god Brett Gurewitz signed ISMFOF to a deal with his Epitaph Records. The fruit of that contract, the band's debut album, You Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter, was released this past October. Its sometimes-scattered mix of screaming, gurgling vocals and skittering electronics has met with mixed reactions from critics, but hasn't deterred the duo's many, many, many young fans, who continue to leave Mihana- and Moo-loving Internet comments by the minute, and who are packing shows nationwide on the band's first national tour. Can more than 101,000 MySpace friends be wrong?

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Arielle Castillo

Contact: Arielle Castillo

I Set My Friends on Fire

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