Post-punk lovers have a new act to follow in Fake Fruit, a Vancouver-bred, Bay Area-based quartet whose self-titled debut is out now on Rocks In Your Head Records. The band cite Pink Flag-era Wire, Pylon and Mazzy Star as influences, and Fake Fruit bears that synthesis out: You’ll find the first two acts’ versatile, hard-edged, bright- and fast-burning guitar rock “Old Skin,” “Yolk”, as well as the last one’s engrossing quiet-loud dynamics “Stroke My Ego”. But that specific stylistic fusion is only a jumping-off point: “Keep You” finds singer and guitarist Hannah D’Amato’s melodic vocals overlaying hypnotic shoegaze guitars courtesy of Alex Post on lead guitar and a clattering low end Martin Miller on bass, Miles MacDiarmid on drums, while album closer “Milkman” finds D’Amato sharing vocal duties over deft guitar harmonics and a motorik backbeat.
And an X factor in all this is Fake Fruit’s mordant lyricism: “My dog speaks more than you did tonight,” D’Amato sneers on “Keep You,” a laugh line on an album that shows serious potential.
The Fat Angel Sings 