The Fruit Machines Aren't as Sunny as They Sound

We're pleased to debut the New Orleans indie dance rock band's new album before it plays an album review show for it this Saturday.

We're pleased to debut the New Orleans indie dance rock band's new album before it plays an album release show for it this Saturday.

Saturday night, indie dance rock band The Fruit Machines will play an album release party at the Saturn Bar with HiGH and Skeletin opening. The band’s self-titled album can be sunny, but there’s more angst in it than might be obvious at first. We're pleased to debut The Fruit Machines before this weekend's show. 

“I was in a new relationship and very in love when I wrote these songs,” songwriter Nick Pope says. “But I was also out of work and in a band that was breaking up.  Perhaps ‘Waking Up Next to You’ expresses that combination of feelings best, with its opening line, ‘Oh my my my, everything I try is going down in flames,’ and closing lines, ‘This is exactly where I want to be/ Waking up next to you.’”

The band started as a solo project for Pope in 2015, then in 2016 he added Annie Cespedes, Eric Dauzat and Adam Harlow to make The Fruit Machines into a full-fledged band. The name came from a line in “Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1” by Los Campesinos! “I felt the combination of words—'fruit' being so natural and organic, 'machines' being inorganic and synthetic—fit the sound of the band well since we use a mixture of acoustic and electric instruments, synthesizers and electronic drum samples,” Pope says.

Pope’s story started in junior high when he learned to play such songs as Nirvana’s “Lithium,” The Sex Pistols’ “God Save the Queen” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze” on guitar.

“Those songs taught me that great rock songs can have very simple structures, progressions, and changes,” he says. “Later in high school, I was starting my first band, and songs like ‘This Monkey’s Gone to Heaven’ by The Pixies and ‘Summer Babe’ by Pavement taught me that great rock songs don’t always have to be dark and angsty—a real revelation after years of post-grunge rock radio. ‘Kill Yr Idols’ by Sonic Youth showed me that great songs can include ugly, strange guitar tones. My Bloody Valentine’s ‘When You Sleep’ inspired my love of blending male and female vocals.”

“Me and My Friends” is the first release from The Fruit Machines, and while it sounds cheerful, it also has a darker undertone, Pope says. “‘Me and My Friends’ is about feeling lost and directionless,” he says. “I realize that there are a lot of happy, upbeat songs on this record, but I think there are also darker moments that hopefully give the album some balance.”