Unlikely Friends, a Pacific Northwest outfit, summon the freewheeling spirit of late-'90s indie rock even though the group took shape in the 2010s. D. Crane from BOAT and Charles Bert from Math and Physics Club started the project, steering its sound toward BOAT's loose, high-energy approach while borrowing melodic strengths from MAPC. The pair first collaborated onstage in 2013 during a Three Imaginary Girls blog party, after which they recruited drummer Chris McFarlane, known for his Jigsaw Records work, to begin tracking songs. From Crane's Seattle garage the trio captured a full set of rowdy indie-rock tracks that Jigsaw issued as Solid Gold Cowboys in early 2015. The album connected strongly with KEXP listeners and turned the band into a regular presence on the regional circuit, where they supported other acts and performed at Bumbershoot and Sasquatch. To enlarge their live sound they brought in multi-instrumentalists M. McKenzie from BOAT and Ethan Jones from MAPC. This expanded lineup headed back into the studio, this time with BOAT's Jackson Justice Long handling production duties, and the sessions yielded Crooked Numbers, which Swoon Records put out in early 2018.
