Strawberry Girls

Strawberry Girls first took shape in 2011 when guitarist Zachary Garren, fresh from his departure from the post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance, teamed with drummer Benjamin Rosett to create a duo. Their initial recording sessions produced a demo whose angular, rapidly evolving style would define the group’s later development. Once the pair started playing shows, bassist Ian Jennings and synth player Caleb Ellison came aboard, turning the project into a quartet that began issuing material and performing consistently. Those early years proved especially prolific, yielding multiple self-released EPs alongside notable covers of tracks by Kendrick Lamar and Carly Rae Jepsen. The band’s debut full-length, French Ghetto, arrived in 2013; although the music remained largely instrumental, several songs incorporated guest vocalists, a practice that continued on later releases. By the time American Graffiti appeared in 2015, Caleb Ellison had departed, leaving a trio that had signed with the North Carolina indie label Tragic Hero Records. Tragic Hero went on to reissue the group’s debut alongside its 2017 album Italian Ghosts.