This Dead-On Red Hot Chili Peppers Parody Could’ve Fooled Us

by | Jan 30, 2014 | MUSIC

There’s a website floating around online that claims to contain a brand new song the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded to celebrate their upcoming Super Bowl appearance. The site is RHCP2014.com and it looks totally legit.

There’s a website floating around online that claims to contain a brand new song the Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded to celebrate their upcoming Super Bowl appearance. The site is RHCP2014.com and it looks totally legit. The song, “Abracadabralifornia,” plays automatically when you click the link, as a Chili Peppers logo spins and changes colors. If you scroll down, you see logos for Dodge, Pepsi, the Super Bowl, Bruno Mars–the whole thing is designed to look just like you’d expect some expensive brand-specific advertisement to look. And the song that you are listening to as you scroll down sounds pretty similar to the more ballad-y recent Red Hot Chili Peppers singles. Which is to say, it’s horrible.

However, if you keep listening, you’ll start to notice some details of the song that are a little too perfectly self-parodying even for the current Chili Peppers. When “Anthony Keidis” starts doing that blustery rap thing he always does, he says things like “I’ll drink an Alabama slamma with yer sexy-ass Gramma,” and towards the bridge, he lapses into outright gibberish. Sure enough, this extremely well produced and designed website is a parody by comedians Jon Daly and Cyrus Ghahremani of LA band Hot Karate. But if you play it for your friends without telling them the story in advance, they might just believe it’s the real Chili Peppers.

Of course, we think the song points out some uncomfortable truths about how far this once well-regarded band have fallen, but the irony seems to have escaped RHCP drummer Chad Smith, who tweeted his amusement when he discovered the song. Hopefully once he’s done laughing, he’ll give the whole thing some thought, because at the rate they’re currently going, we can’t imagine the Chili Peppers will ever again do something as good as “Warped,” let alone “Suck My Kiss” or “Fight Like A Brave.” Maybe this will be a wake up call… but let’s face it, it probably won’t.

Listen to and download “Abracadabralifornia” at RHCP2014.com.

Marilyn Drew Necci

Marilyn Drew Necci

Former GayRVA editor-in-chief, RVA Magazine editor for print and web. Anxiety expert, proud trans woman, happily married.




more in music

Cosmic Jazz Legend Lonnie Liston Smith is Returning to Richmond

Just announced: Cosmic Echo Live, taking place at the historic Hippodrome Theatre on September 13, will celebrate the life, music, and legacy of Richmond-born cosmic jazz icon Lonnie Liston Smith. The event will feature live performances, stories from across his...

Phish Announces Two-Night Richmond Run at Allianz Amphitheater

Phish is bringing its legendary live show back to Richmond for the first time in more than three decades. The Vermont jam band has announced an eight-show October tour that includes a two-night stop at Allianz Amphitheater on October 6 and 7. Richmond is one of just...

Photos | Djo & Pond at Allianz Amphitheater

Djo, the musical project of actor and musician Joe Keery, made his Richmond debut at Allianz Amphitheater on Friday night, drawing a packed crowd for one of the summer's most anticipated indie shows. Best known to many as Steve Harrington from Stranger Things, Keery...

Dispatch from the Lewis Ginter Picket Line

An on-the-ground account of the strike that prompted Jesse Welles and Graham Nash to cancel their Richmond performances. Tensions escalated as Jesse Welles called off his performance at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden yesterday amid an ongoing union fight for higher...