The F16's Show the Freedom of the Effortless Rock 'n' Roller
Written by: Janani Hariram
ARTIST: The F16s
ALBUM: All Dogs Go To Heaven (2026)
GENRE: Rock
RATING: 9/10
A decade since their iconic album “Triggerpunkte” (2016), Chennai-based band The F16s have not disappointed with their latest release. “All Dogs Go To Heaven” (2026) has a nostalgic, groovy sound that, at times, brought a tear to my eye. There is something beautifully raw and open to it, something that makes me yearn for simpler childhood times. This intention is reflected through the album’s cover art, as the quartet, unashamedly naked, jump into a lake, their limbs seeming to blend into each other. A childhood innocence and freedom is represented here, with the nudity being the furthest thing from sexual or explicit. It is simply how we were all born, and while our bodies may have changed with adulthood, we are still ourselves. This is what the album means to me.
The opening track “Fee Fi Fo Fum” is a jazzy, seemingly effortless track. “Life is sweet and swift/ Well there goes my bucketlist” sings lead singer Jousha Fernandez, a lackadaisical wryness in his voice that shows the characteristic sarcastic humor of the band. This laidback slacker rock energy doesn’t come from nowhere. The band retreated from the chaotic dense sprawl of Chennai to the hills of Ooty, giving themselves all the time and space to work on this album. They seem to have attentively let themselves, and their inhibitions, go. Rather than debating for ages on an album title and overthinking every decision, according to Platform, they simply let the music take them where it will. This was the result. A reconnection with our instinctual nature.
The title track “Mt. Whateverest” tells you exactly what the band thinks of goalpost chasing. The rat race is not for them. Rather, they prefer dogs, loyal, stalwart, and always pointed in the right direction. It is difficult to just let yourself be. Especially in this world that demands so much of you, from career accomplishments, to personal victories, and let’s not forget a perfectly curated social media. Our shared hometown of Chennai, in particular, is a loud, competitive race to the top. The F16s reject this. The beauty of a day spent in nature with your friends, jamming to music, is what they’re all about. With a Triggerpunkte-esque energetic chorus, the song is a catchy rebellion against what Fernandez calls the “Slippery tongue that’s venomous.”
One of the things I find funny is that, given the lead singer’s diction, it is entirely possible that listeners discovering them on Spotify shuffle have no idea that the band is Indian. They sound very well like they could be American or British. All their lyrics are in English. In their interview with The Dirty Magazine, bass player Sashank Manohar jokes that a sound experiment they haven’t been able to conduct yet is “Josh singing in Tamil.” Perhaps English is just easier, or gives them a greater audience, but it always spoke to me as a younger generation Tamilian who grew up in a globalized online world. Being Tamil means a lot of things, and The F16’s rock ‘n’ roll feels no less authentic than Kollywood. All this to say, “Back in the City” reminded me of how much I miss Chennai. It seems that, even if you take the band out of Chennai, you can’t take the Chennai out of the band.
Other standouts are the whiny vocals of "Little Mama’s boy” that infuse some of the angst of The Smiths’ to the band’s danceable beats. The band states that “So Unique, Utterly Special” is for the baddies and it definitely embodies the most fun parts of the instinctual, laissez-faire approach of the album. A groovy, upbeat club banger with great lyrics that make you feel nothing short of the title. Fernandez’s bratty and whiny vocals make a reappearance here as well and perfectly set the tone to lyrics like “2020, what a waste/ Just to say fuck it” (I think we can all relate to that).
Paradoxically, relaxing and slacking off might be one of the most difficult things to do. It takes a lot to shut the overly analytical part of your brain off and to go back to the more emotive times of youth, where the opinions of others didn’t hold as much sway over your still-maturing brain. The F16s somehow did it, and have managed to alchemically package that feeling into this ten track album. In the middle of my busy, busy, busy early twenties, I just want to put this album on, and have a couple of drinks with my friends in this breezy New York Fall weather, an ocean away from Chennai. And I think I’ll do just that. Why not? Life is sweet and swift, after all.
RATING: 9/10
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