Fake Fruit - “Milkman”

SXSW 2023 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 3

Pairs Well With…Cherry Glazerr, Courtney Barnett, Palehound

Beyond touring and a Spanish-language version of single “No Mutuals”, 2022 was a year for Fake Fruit to continue to promote their eclectic indie-rock debut while hopefully cooking up a follow-up leading into SXSW 2023. Based in classic punk rock forms, Fake Fruit do well to filter that sound into something more introverted while not losing its weight. Threads of shoegaze and alt-rock inform Fake Fruit’s songs, but they’re grounded down to its emotive, relatively minimalist core. It’s a different side of garage rock and a reason to keep an ear out for Fake Fruit as they set sights on what’s next. (Kevin McStravick) 

2022 Review: San Francisco band Fake Fruit mix melancholy bedroom rock with post-punk and grunge weight on their self-titled debut, an angry record within which still lives a ton of charm. By paring back at times, the bursts of sound that climax much of their punchy tracks really resonate, intently hard but still hazy and comfortable. It’s rarely straight garage rock, rather Fake Fruit take influence in math rock and jangly punk when it comes to melody. They’re messing with rhythm in parts of their songs too, finding space to explore with a compact, post-rock mindset. It’s an interesting listen that blends rock genre and a strong debut of sound, moood, and songwriting.