The Fresh & Onlys - 3 Albums (2010-2012)

The Fresh & Onlys are an American rock band. They were formed in San Francisco in 2008 by Tim Cohen of Black Fiction, bassist Shayde Sartin and guitarist Wymond Miles. A year later they recruited drummer Kyle Gibson. They are a key band in what has been described as San Francisco's "new garage rock" movement, but their sound is equally aligned with pastoral psychedelia, brooding new wave, western twang, and jangly literate 80's guitar pop.

The band's catalog has found homes on several record labels including Woodsist, Captured Tracks, In The Red, Sacred Bones, and Castle Face. Their most recent work has been released by Mexican Summer including the full length Long Slow Dance released in September 2012, followed by the Soothsayer EP in late 2013.

In 2017, they announced their seventh studio album Wolf Lie Down which is to be released on August 25, 2017, via Sinderlyn. According to a press release, it was primarily written and recorded by Cohen and Miles, with contributions from former members Sartin and Gibson, alongside James Baron.



"The Fresh & Onlys' debut record, Grey-Eyed Girls, was a murky, clattering, quite often thrilling mash-up of '60s West Coast psych, the Cramps, and ramshackle garage rock that put them at the top of the noise pop heap. On the follow-up, Play It Strange, the San Francisco group cleans up the clatter and noise and ditches the psychobilly influence in favor of a slightly twangy sound that creeps up on country-rock at times. It’s a trade-off most bands make as they mature, nuance instead of noise, and the Fresh & Onlys manage to do it well by keeping most of the things that made them good, like the catchy songwriting, the intense performances, and singer Timothy Cohen's deeply idiosyncratic vocals. He’s a little less affected and arch this time out, which makes him less unique-sounding, but he gives the words and melodies a little more emotional pull. His voice fits like a puzzle piece into the newly full and rich sound the band creates using walls of guitars, plenty of reverb, and – unlike on Grey-Eyed Girls – lots of woody-feeling organ. Plus, even though the sound is cleaned up, there are still plenty of times when the feedback and excessive reverb take over (the middle section of the epic-length jam “Tropical Island Suite,” the romping “Plague of Frogs”) and give the listener a jolt. Mostly though, the record sounds like an '80s college rock album made on a shoestring budget. A really good one. In fact, if it were the '80s instead of the 2010s, some of the tracks might even catch on and be radio hits. “Summer of Love” is a sweet-sounding but lyrically harrowing midtempo ballad that would sound great over the airwaves, “Until the End of Time” twangles like classic R.E.M., “Be My Hooker” is a pleasingly rambunctious rocker, and “I’m a Thief” ends the album with a swelling '50s-influenced ballad that would sound perfect in a John Hughes student film shot on Super 8. Taken as pieces, these songs are prime 2000s indie rock; added together they make Play It Strange a satisfying step forward for the band." AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra

Track List:
01. Summer of Love
02. Waterfall
03. Until the End of Time
04. Tropical Island Suite
05. All Shook Up
06. Be My Hooker
07. Fascinated
08. Plague of Frogs
09. Who Needs a Man
10. Red Light, Green Light
11. I'm a Thief



"Over the past few years, the Fresh & Onlys have quietly become one of the most reliable and interesting indie rock bands around. They don’t get the same hype some of the flashier, more gimmicky bands have gotten. Instead, they’ve just honed their craft and created a murky, hazily psychedelic sound with some spooky undertones and a solid emotional core. Their 2010 album Play It Strange was their strongest album, featuring a batch of strongly evocative songs and vocalist Tim Cohen's most haunting performances. His growth as a singer has been one of the most interesting things about the group and on the follow-up EP recorded for Sacred Bones, Secret Walls, he turns in another fine effort. The naked pain he displays on the title track and the aching croon of "Do You Believe in Destiny" really hit hard. The band has grown, too. The Fresh & Onlys are reaching Rain Parade-good levels, and on this EP the guitars have real power and grace as they intertwine in a reverby embrace. The richness of the arrangements gives Cohen a perfect backdrop for his heart-rending songs, as this is definitely a “down” EP. There are no good-time tracks to cut the moody gloom. Fortunately, it’s a warm and fuzzy gloom that sounds just right all the time. You won’t want to miss Secret Walls, another step in the band's progression." AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra

Track List:
01. Secret Walls
02. Keep Telling Everybody Lies
03. Do You Believe In Destiny?
04. Wash Over Us
05. Poison Wine



"You'd be forgiven for thinking that maybe after recording an album or a long EP a year since 2009, as well as members putting out solo and side project albums during that time, that the Fresh & Onlys might be a little tapped out. One listen to Long Slow Dance shows that any fears of that nature are unfounded, and the band has turned in another neo-psych gem. Just as on the previous album Play It Strange, the Fresh & Onlys take a step further away from their murky, lo-fi beginnings, this time sounding slicker, and also more powerful, than ever; as at times, guitars envelop the listener, drums ring out like canon blasts, and Tim Cohen's vocals, while still happily weird, are up front in the mix. Many bands have tried this tactic and failed, the Fresh & Onlys make it work for them by keeping enough of the atmospheric swirl of reverb lurking in the mix, making sure that the guitar sound varies from track to track, and above all, writing killer songs. Cohen seems to have held back some of his best for this album, including some seriously catchy songs that jangle like classic '80s college rock, especially the complexly arranged psychedelia of the Church. The relaxedly dreamy "Presence of Mind" is one of these; the sprightly "No Regard" is another. Poppiest of all, though, is the midtempo "Dream Girl," which features a supremely hooky vocal melody and an excellent fingersnaps/vibraphone breakdown. These moments of sweet pop that make up the bulk of the album are balanced by fierce tracks that burn through the speakers ("Euphoria," "Yes and No") in a blaze of fretwork, and quieter songs like the title track and "Executioner's Song" that are built around acoustic guitars and deliver a more nuanced punch. The band even stretches out on the epic length "Foolish Person," jangling smartly on the first half and then charging into a long section where the guitars tangle and howl in a fiery duel that never flags. The three song types blend together perfectly and the album flows smoothly from start to finish. Even though Long Slow Dance sounds one coat of studio gloss away from a Mitch Easter production, the strength of the songs and performance mean the band is still working as well as ever, maybe even better, and Long Slow Dance stands as their most satisfying album to date." AllMusic Review by Tim Sendra

Track List:
01. 20 Days And 20 Nights
02. Yes Or No
03. Long Slow Dance
04. Presence Of Mind
05. Dream Girls
06. Fire Alarm
07. Executioner’s Song
08. No Regard
09. Euphoria
10. Foolish Person
11. Wanna Do Right By You