Dexter and the Moonrocks Want ‘to Set the Tone of What Rock Music Is Going to Be’

“We’re four dumbasses from West Texas — like us or hate us, this is who we are,” drummer Ryan Fox (commonly referred to as just Fox) says matter-of-­factly of a band that has both helped to resurrect the sound of ’90s grunge and bring them back to the Billboard charts.

The four members of Dexter and the Moonrocks started out exploring red-dirt country but have surged to the forefront of the current rock revival with songs that marry country’s confessional lyrics (“I’m a bad guy” stories, as guitarist Ryan Anderson puts it) with grunge’s heavy guitars, acoustic introspection and affinity for strong melody.

The resulting sound — they’ve dubbed it “Western space grunge,” the name of their July 2024 debut EP — is powered by singer James Tuffs’ ­magnetic, raw vocals and can evoke everything from Alice in Chains to Weezer.

After getting together outside Abilene and releasing its debut single in 2021, the band began a still-relentless live schedule, getting signed by Severance Records in a joint venture with Big Loud Rock in 2023 and making its alternative radio breakthrough the following year.

But it wasn’t until earlier this year that Dexter and the Moonrocks became a true commercial force, when its smash, “Freakin’ Out,” spent five weeks at No.

1 on Alternative Airplay , broke onto Pop Airplay and became the band’s Billboard Hot 100 debut, reaching No.

33.

It will be on the debut full-length, Friends That I Don’t Like (out Oct.

2), from the four guys who all still live within two hours of each other in northwest Texas.

As Anderson vows, “We’re never, ever moving to Nashville.” Related Dexter and the Moonrocks Land Second Alternative Airplay No.

1 With ‘Freakin’ Out’ How Rising Rock Bands Edgehill & Dexter and the Moonrocks Landed Their Biggest Chart Hits to Date Chartbreaker: Could Rising Rock Band Edgehill Top Alternative Airplay Twice? Why ‘Love To Go’ Is Climbing Fast Why did “Freakin’ Out” feel like the right breakout moment for you? Ryan Anderson: I was always under the impression we were going to do this organic growth thing, where three albums later [we] finally blow up.

I didn’t think we were going to have a pop moment.

But credit to James and Fox; in the studio when we were still working on it, they both were saying, “This is the one.” Ryan Fox: And then you don’t understand what that actually means, and it’s like, oh, this is a way different beast.

I think back to like “Ritalin” and “Sad in Carolina” and all those moments where I’m like, “God, these are such good songs, I wish these did bigger.” But there isn’t a universe where I think “Freakin’ Out” isn’t the best moment for this band to accelerate.