Fake Fruit

Bay Area post-punks Fake Fruit channel their irritations through nonstop drive and sharp wit. Anchored by Ham D'Amato's vocals that shift between deadpan detachment and raw intensity, alongside the angular playing of guitarist Alex Post and drummer Miles MacDiarmid, the group signaled its place among high-voltage acts like Pylon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Wet Leg via the self-titled debut album that surfaced in 2021. Returning in 2024 with Mucho Mistrust, Fake Fruit wove greater melody and range into the sound while retaining every ounce of their driving humor.

The project originated with D'Amato, who was raised in Orange County before heading to New York at age 18. There she dove into the local indie rock circuit and launched a two-piece version of Fake Fruit in 2016. Relocating to Vancouver by 2017, she accelerated the band's momentum through a trio configuration, cranking out multiple songs daily and capturing a full set of demos.

D'Amato settled in the Bay Area during 2018 and soon linked up with lead guitarist Post, an art-school acquaintance of her sister, plus drummer Miles MacDiarmid. With a rotating roster of bassists, the group logged dozens of performances and tracked the debut album, blending tracks carried over from the Vancouver sessions with fresh material shaped alongside Post and MacDiarmid. Issued in March 2021 on Sonny Smith's Rocks in Your Head label—the release funded by his initial COVID-19 unemployment check—Fake Fruit delivered the band's brash, clever spin on post-punk. Met with strong critical response, the album exhausted its first 250-copy vinyl run and repeated the feat across additional pressings. That July the band released the single "I Am the Car," while a Spanish-language take on the debut track "No Mutuals," titled "No Mutuas," followed the next March.

Following shows alongside Wet Leg, Dry Cleaning, Sunflower Bean, and Alvvays, Fake Fruit began shaping the follow-up. Cut at Oakland's Atomic Garden Studio under producer Jack Shirley, August 2024's Mucho Mistrust marked the group's first outing for Carpark and channeled breakups, grueling day jobs, and late-stage capitalism across its charged tracks.