Strawberry Girls is a three-piece instrumental rock outfit from California, founded in 2011 by ex-Dance Gavin Dance guitarist Zachary Garren. Along with drummer Ben Rossett and bassist Ian Jennings, the dudes have been pumping out loads of noodly, jammy tunes for years now. While they have worked with and featured guest vocalists like Kurt Travis (A Lot Like Birds) and Nic Newsham (Gatsby’s American Dream), they have remained instrumental at the core.
As guitarist Zachary Garren says, “Our sound was originally built from a desire to practice and play as much as possible, without being restricted by the schedules of many different band members”. Although this may be a more practical approach to songwriting, Strawberry Girls have been able to fuse simplistic and technical ideas together to create memorable songs with tons of suprises around every corner.
In this playthrough, Zachary brings out the shred on the song “Spanish Bay” from their 2015 album American Graffiti. The song puts a memorable twist on guitar-driven instrumental rock with tons of catchy hooks and foot-tappin’ rhythms. These dudes fit right in with bands like CHON, TTNG, and Polyphia. If sticky sweet melodies are your jam, you’re gonna have a berry good time.
Since the release of American Graffiti, the band rereleased their record Italian Ghosts, which is a completely rerecorded version of their 2012 EP, with the addition four new songs. Betterier, fruitier, sweeter: aw ye. As if those weren’t enough, the band just announced their first-ever headlining tour, featuring the bands Comrades and Belle Noire. The tour dates can be peaked at below. Be sure to hit up their Facebook and Bandcamp pages for the juicy details.
