Interview: AJJ on 'Dirty Old Power'

Sean Bonnette has long said there is no wrong way to write a song. In 2026, though, he has a caveat. “Every way to write a song is valid,” he begins. “Except generative AI.”

Bonnette, the vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter for Arizona folk punk institution AJJ, has always been transparent about his thoughts and feelings. Lyrically, he’s known for radical vulnerability and hilarious, scathing, and even heartbreaking critiques of the world around him. His potty mouth and topical focus have remained intact since the band’s inception in 2005, although his delivery has matured over time. But the world has changed as well, and on Dirty Old Power, the band’s ninth full-length album out now on AJJ Unlimited LTD, artificial intelligence has taken center stage on his enemy lines.

The cultural reliance on generative AI (and its side effects) leads Bonnette to question the future of human communication altogether. “I’m obsessed with language. I love words,” he clarifies. “But we’ve given our written and verbal language to generative AI. Humans are not the only game in town that can speak this language now. We’re going to have to evolve beyond that.”

Don’t mistake him or his bandmates for total luddites, however. The band embrace technology more openly than most, especially in the studio. They often incorporate new instruments and digital effects heavily on their records, a far cry from their early days as a two-piece folk punk duo. “An album is an opportunity to explore something new sonically,” says Ben Gallaty, AJJ’s co-founding member and bassist. “You take the songs, which generally start with an acoustic guitar, lyrics, and melody, and ask, ‘How can we adorn this and make it (more) fun and compelling?”

This is part of AJJ’s continuity. Their experimental (non-derogatory) sound and willingness to let other people into the creative process have kept them relevant for two-plus decades now. The band now includes Preston Bryant on electric guitar, Mark Glick on cello, and Grant Bubar on drums. Every member contributes to the final product. “For the most part, I’ll bring the song to the group,” Bonnette says. “Then we’ll arrange it and put all the adornments on it.”

Maybe this is why Dirty Old Power has such a vast sonic range as well. Between the indie rock-ish opener, “Beauty & Truth 2,” and the Lookout! Records-style closer “Human Centipede,” the band covers a lot of ground. Within the walls of its 12 tracks, you have everything from grunge riffs (“Destiny”) to distortion-overloaded ragers (“Phlamethrower”) to synth-driven songs (“Florid Language”). It never stops sounding like AJJ, though.

You’ll find a similar continuum of variety in Bonnette’s lyrics. Billionaires past their prime (“Dirty Old World”), the surveillance state (“Window In Yr Mind”), the aforementioned loss of communicative ownership (“Florid Language”), and burning it all down to start over (“Phlamethrower”) abound throughout the album.

But the most personal song on the record may be the paradoxically entitled “Bitch Ass World.” The song was written for Bonnette’s late friend, visual artist and electronic musician R. Ariel, who died in 2023. “I still talk to her in my head sometimes,” he admits. Despite its mournful nature, the track offers some relief in the middle of a topically heady record, reminding listeners that angst and social critiques exist to serve humanity.

Bonnette and Gallanty feel this doubly as fathers. “Fucking throw me in the dirt when I’m gone,” Bonnette exclaims. “But I like my kids a lot. I would love for them to have a better (world) than the one we’re in right now.”

Dirty Old Power is out now. Get it here.