Trying by Guy Friends

From the minds of producers Claire Joko-Fujimoto and River Fleischner comes the latest collaboration known as Guy Friends. The group’s debut EP “Trying” is a dreampop experience that is intensely familiar, yet extra-terrestrial. A unique blend of guitar sounds that seem to be plucked from English new wave collide with hyperpop-derived percussion among walls of huge synth sound. Storytelling vocal melodies that hearken back to classic country take a journey from doubt to certainty. With anthemic emphasis, Claire Joko-Fujimoto leads the tracks eloquently through character-defining moments as if they are diary entries. The
result is a kaleidoscopic emotional landscape filled with bubbling digital textures—loosely described by Fleischner as “post-vape pop.”
Having been involved in Seattle’s underground experimental and noise rock scene from 2014-18 as a member of The Crawl, Fleischner has applied a grungy flavor to his first major pop production. In 2019-20 he produced and fronted his“slamgaze” project Blisspoint, which was the first official release on y3s Recordings.