Wholesome alert: watch this son surprise his musician dad with a remastered version of his old band's lost music

Son and dad fist bumping — (Image credit: TikTok / fuegotao)

We're not ones to get all mushy with the feels too often here at Louder, but this story managed to put a little crack in our cold, blackened hearts.

TikTok user @fuegotao wins the internet for this week with an upload that revealed a beautiful bit of bonding between he and his punk rock/metalhead dad. As @fuegotao - real name Mateo - explains, his pops "loves music" and used to be in a couple of bands back in the day. As it was his birthday coming up, Mateo decides to surprise his father with a lovely bit of thoughtful thinking, tracking down an old cassette tape of the music his dad used to play when he was in a band called Trip Master Monkey. As it turns out, Trip Master Monkey's music had long been lost to the sands of time, and even Mateo's dad hadn't heard a note of their music in decades.

That'd be cool enough, right? Except there's more. Not only did Mateo get the cassette, but he decided to try and remaster Trip Master Monkey's music so that he and his dad could listen to them together in full high quality(ish) sound! After an unsuccessful attempt to do it himself, Mateo goes to an expert, managing to give the band's demo a big sonic polish and even getting it uploaded to Spotify!

As the video shows, Mateo then surprises his dad on his big day by playing the demo unannounced when the two are driving together. We won't dissect his dad's reaction here because it's far more wholesome to just see it for yourself.

Watch the video of Mateo surprising his dad below, and if you like, listen to the Trip Master Monkey demo just below that. It's actually pretty good!

@fuegotao
♬ original sound - Mateo

Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.