Unlikely Friends

Despite being firmly lodged in the 2010s, Pacific Northwest-based band Unlikely Friends conjure up nostalgia for the loose-and-limber indie rock of the late '90s. Formed by D. Crane of BOAT and Charles Bert of Math and Physics Club, their sound leans more toward the sloppily energetic rock of BOAT, but with a healthy dose of MAPC's melodic chops. The two first played together in 2013 at a party of the influential music blog Three Imaginary Girls, then roped in drummer Chris McFarlane (of Jigsaw Records fame) for some recording. Working out of Crane's Seattle garage, the three laid down an album's worth of raucous indie rock released by Jigsaw in early 2015. The record, Solid Gold Cowboys, struck a chord with listeners of local station KEXP and the band became a fixture on the local scene, opening shows and appearing at music festivals Bumbershoot and Sasquatch. To fill out their sound, the trio added multi-instrumentalists M. McKenzie of BOAT and Ethan Jones of MAPC. This expanded group returned to the studio with BOAT's Jackson Justice Long in the producer's chair. The resulting LP, Crooked Numbers, was released by the Seattle-based Swoon Records in early 2018.
© Tim Sendra /TiVo