Biography
Playing a stylish blend of garage rock, indie punk, and psychedelia accented by ominous keyboards, the Paranoyds emerged from Los Angeles’s D.I.Y. scene to become one of the West Coast’s leading indie acts. Their 2016 debut EP, After You, displayed a strong yet scrappy sound. By the arrival of their first full-length, Carnage Bargain, in 2019, the group had tightened its attack and grown more melodic while preserving the energy and stylistic equilibrium of its initial work. That progression continued on Talk Talk Talk, issued in 2022 as the band’s debut for Third Man Records.
Lexi Funston on guitar and vocals and Laila Hashemi on keyboards and vocals formed the Paranoyds in 2015. The pair had been friends since grade school; Hashemi trained on classical piano as a child before classic new wave and punk shaped her teenage listening habits, while Funston drew primary inspiration from the Breeders, Television, and Wire for her guitar style. Still in high school, they began writing songs and took their earliest steps toward assembling a band. Staz Lindes, who handles bass and vocals and maintains a successful modeling career, had known Hashemi online since their early teens; Hashemi invited her to join the developing project. David Ruiz rounded out the lineup on drums and vocals. The group entered the Los Angeles underground, sharing bills with Sad Girl, Sunflower Bean, and Wild Wing. In May 2016 the Paranoyds self-released their first recordings, the four-song EP After You, initially available only on cassette. That year they also embarked on their first proper tour, opening for DIIV, and issued a split cassette with Fernando and the Teenage Narcs in August. They closed the year with the late-December release of “Feel Like Shit,” recorded in August 2015 but held until Boxing Day 2016.
A second EP, the five-song Eat Their Own, appeared in February 2017. Live activity and individual commitments occupied the band until the February 2018 single “Maldito” b/w “Black and Bored.” In 2019 the Paranoyds toured extensively with Tacocat and signed with Suicide Squeeze, which released the “Hungry Sam” b/w “Trade Our Sins” single in July. That single previewed their debut album, Carnage Bargain, issued by the label in September 2019. By 2021 the band had demoed material for a new album at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone Studios and joined the Third Man roster. Working with producer JooJoo Ashworth of Froth, they re-recorded the Tiny Telephone tracks, added several new songs, and finished the follow-up. Third Man released Talk Talk Talk in September 2022.
Lexi Funston on guitar and vocals and Laila Hashemi on keyboards and vocals formed the Paranoyds in 2015. The pair had been friends since grade school; Hashemi trained on classical piano as a child before classic new wave and punk shaped her teenage listening habits, while Funston drew primary inspiration from the Breeders, Television, and Wire for her guitar style. Still in high school, they began writing songs and took their earliest steps toward assembling a band. Staz Lindes, who handles bass and vocals and maintains a successful modeling career, had known Hashemi online since their early teens; Hashemi invited her to join the developing project. David Ruiz rounded out the lineup on drums and vocals. The group entered the Los Angeles underground, sharing bills with Sad Girl, Sunflower Bean, and Wild Wing. In May 2016 the Paranoyds self-released their first recordings, the four-song EP After You, initially available only on cassette. That year they also embarked on their first proper tour, opening for DIIV, and issued a split cassette with Fernando and the Teenage Narcs in August. They closed the year with the late-December release of “Feel Like Shit,” recorded in August 2015 but held until Boxing Day 2016.
A second EP, the five-song Eat Their Own, appeared in February 2017. Live activity and individual commitments occupied the band until the February 2018 single “Maldito” b/w “Black and Bored.” In 2019 the Paranoyds toured extensively with Tacocat and signed with Suicide Squeeze, which released the “Hungry Sam” b/w “Trade Our Sins” single in July. That single previewed their debut album, Carnage Bargain, issued by the label in September 2019. By 2021 the band had demoed material for a new album at John Vanderslice’s Tiny Telephone Studios and joined the Third Man roster. Working with producer JooJoo Ashworth of Froth, they re-recorded the Tiny Telephone tracks, added several new songs, and finished the follow-up. Third Man released Talk Talk Talk in September 2022.
Albums
I Like It Here
2023
Talk Talk Talk
2022
Pet Cemetery
2020
Carnage Bargain
2019
Hungry Sam
2019
Eat Their Own
2017
After You
2017
Singles
