Gen Z has already resurrected everything from wired headphones to low-rise jeans, but now the generation is reaching even further back into the ’90s—and apparently bringing a cult-favorite rock band along for the ride.
Industrial rockers Kidneythieves, who emerged in the late ’90s with their 1998 debut album Trickster, are officially back with “Winners,” their first new original music in 10 years.
And unlike many bands dusting off their catalogs for another go-around, this comeback wasn’t exactly planned.
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Frontwoman Free Dominguez revealed in a new interview with Nu Metal Agenda that a chance restaurant encounter with the A&R executive who signed the band’s 2002 album Zerospace helped her realize Kidneythieves’ music had quietly found an entirely new generation of fans.
“He said, ‘You know, your music’s making a comeback,’” Dominguez recalled.
So, naturally, she looked into it.
According to Dominguez, the band had amassed between 12 million and 18 million Spotify Wrapped streams over the years and was attracting roughly 120,000 listeners on the platform each month.
“And the crazy part is that a lot of them are Gen Z on TikTok, discovering Queen of the Damned and everything else,” she added.
Kidneythieves’ connection to the 2002 vampire flick starring Aaliyah and Stuart Townsend came several years after the band’s ’90s debut. Their song “Before I’m Dead” was featured in the 2002 film Queen of the Damned, helping the group build what Nu Metal Agenda describes as a “small but dedicated cult following.”
Apparently, that following has some new blood. Pun intended.
“Winners,” released Oct. 30, marks the band’s first new original material since 2016, when The Mend arrived.
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The alternative track takes aim at the billionaire class and those who reach the top only to pull the proverbial ladder up behind them.
A music video is also on the way, with director Evan Stone returning behind the camera. Stone previously directed the video for “Taxicab Messiah,” the first single from the band’s 1998 debut.
And “Winners” isn’t shaping up to be a one-and-done trip down memory lane.
At least two new EPs are reportedly in the works, while Dominguez has also teased the possibility of Kidneythieves returning to the stage.
No track lists or release dates have been announced for the upcoming projects just yet.
For now, after a decade without new original music, a band that got its start nearly 30 years ago suddenly has a whole new generation rocking out.