Fight Fair

Fight Fair fuse the infectious drive of pop-punk with the bright vocal blends and processed timbres typical of boy-band productions, forming a five-piece outfit based in San Diego, California, whose aim is upbeat yet sharpened performances. The lineup—Alex Bigman handling lead vocals, Evan Henkel and Kyle Wanninger on guitars, Chris Begley on bass, and Josh Reef behind the drums—first crossed paths as students at San Diego State University. Each had already logged time in high-school groups, and an impromptu conversation about records while sharing drinks at a campus gathering prompted them to launch a new project that would merge tastes stretching from the Beach Boys through the Misfits. Once they had built a local following in San Diego, the band self-released their eight-track EP Settle the Score in 2008. Tracks such as “Brain Freeze” and “Pop Rocks” accumulated substantial streams on the group’s MySpace profile, leading to a contract with the punk-focused independent imprint Triple Crown Records, which then put the EP back into circulation. Following a stretch of steady road work, Fight Fair entered the studio alongside producers Mike Green and Brian Grider to cut their debut full-length. The resulting California Kicks, issued in 2010, leaned further into the pop elements of their sound and arrived just as the band joined that summer’s Vans Warped Tour.