Fake Fruit : Mucho Mistrust
How do you follow up a Gangbusters self-titled debut record, released during the pandemic, that took your band around the world opening for Wet Leg, Dry Cleaning, ESG and Alvvays, to name a few? That’s the beautiful predicament Oakland’s Fake Fruit—the trio comprising bandleader Hannah D’Amato, guitarist Alex Post, and drummer Miles MacDiarmid (they tend to cycle through bass players)—amassed coming off a skyrocketing launch. Fake Fruit entered the chat in 2021 with all engines firing scorching. Incendiary guitar licks, undeniable riffs, and nervy post-punk lyrics symbolizing a veteran’s confidence. Running through that first album, no matter the song, there seemed to be a theme connecting all the phases; songs demanding accountability. Whether that’s in the government, personal relationships, or just your flaky-ass friends.
“Handle your shit” feels like it would be the message on the jumbotron. Fake Fruit, a band that has no problem taking potshots at themselves—peep their vids, they’re always the butt of the joke—remain steadfast, dart capital-S serious when it comes to the music. They bring a meld of raucous guitars, tree-trunk thudding drums and nail-gun bass as the canvas for D’Amato’s lyrics demanding accountability with just a whimsy of the defenseless, stemming from the ability to be hurt, in the lining—it caught on.
This isn’t a gimmick, kids. Hard sounds to protect the tender heart? it cuts through the noise and hits the feels. It’s why this little band has done big things in a short amount of time—heart, people.
Mucho Mistrust, their follow-up, released via Carpark Records, leans into this winning alchemy, stretching the canvas to explore dream-pop, shoegaze and anthemic power ballads, done with the wise touch of proper sequencing so there is visceral flow and consistency. More generally, it’s a showcase of growth for the band. Where the first album was primarily written by D’Amato due to circumstance, this is more of a collective effort, and the sound is not just mature but advanced in sonics.
There are stretches on Mucho Mistrust when they’ve just turned this little power trio—or foursome—into a cot-damn noise apparatus. “Más o Menos” cranks, whistles, and clangs like a five-piece while D’Amato gives an astute observation: “I decided to assert myself / After I lost all my sense of self.” A couple of tracks previously, we get those house-of-mirrors carnival vibes on “Gotta Meet You,” which I’m determined to believe is yet another way of displaying their sense of humor about themselves. Even the title track, a lyric stolen/borrowed from Blondie’s “Heart of Glass,” is a bullet directly aimed at the shifty dealings the band has encountered in the music business. (You can hit your Google machine for the deets.) The point is, it relinquishes this Oakland outfit to unload all the rage guitars, power drumming, and frustration an ever-ascending band can extol as they rise to the occasion for a banger-ass follow-up album, unleashing seething vengeful righteousness against the bullshit you encounter, no matter how successful or sound your art is.
Label: Carpark
Year: 2024
Similar Albums:
Fake Fruit : Mucho Mistrust
Note: When you buy something through our affiliate links, Treble receives a commission. All albums we cover are chosen by our editors and contributors.
