Following the release of their latest EP ‘Ripe and Ready’, Manchester’s Fruit Tones gave CONE their 8 tracks for almost every occasion, and in the process revealed some of their diverse sonic roots.
Making its way onto vinyl via Greenway Records and tape via Fuzzkill, ‘Ripe and Ready’ holdstrue to the roots of millennial garage rock. It sets itself very much in the live arena, releasing shorter, high-octane anthems with a kind-of slacker’s sentiment. The group’s palate of influence stretches beyond their city’s healthy DIY scene, spanning both eras and genres.
[ypt playlist_id=PLl_zi9NNCmoxEFvUM_lFOld0SRBkFFQ2d]
1. The first single I ever bought.
Pulp – Common People
2. My track of the moment.
Former Bullies – Stranger
“Always excited for a new Former Bullies’ release. The Godfathers of the Manchester DIY scene.”
3. A get-out-of-bed track on a sunny day.
Connie Francis – Don’t Ever Leave Me
“Definitely worth waking up for!”
4. A track that I’ve played to death.
Hues Corporation – Rock the Boat
“Literally murdered this on many occasions. We used to cover it at early Fruit Tones’ shows and thought we were pulling off some kind of Velvet Underground rework of it. We tried to bring it back in practice recently and it sounded awful! I’d like to know where we got the notion!”
5. A track to get me dancing.
The Tammys – Egyptian Shumba
“Any girl group could do it but this track gets wild! We’re big fans of novelty dance routine songs.”
6. A track to take me back.
The Hives – Die, All Right
“The first gig I ever went to was The Hives at Manchester Apollo when I was 15. Me and my pal got the train over from Leeds after school and it blew me away. The Hives stood out to me so much at that time, a band that fully rips among the sea of landfill indie that was coming out all over the place.”
7. A track that I’d play at midnight on a Sunday
Johnny Burnette & The Rock ‘n’ Roll Trio – Eager Beaver Baby
“We were once sleeping in a small room above a pub and the room was completely covered in mattresses. It was crazy – the last night of a tour, we hadn’t slept properly for days so it could have been midnight on a Sunday. Dom kept playing this song on his phone and we couldn’t stop laughing – the title, the lyrics, the oohs. It ended up driving us crazy that the verses rhyme but the chorus doesn’t. They probably made it at midnight on a Sunday.
8. A track by my newest favourite artist.
Rik & The Pigs – Don’t Tell On Me
“The only band I wanted to see at SXSW this year. I waited two days for it, then went out to eat tacos. By the time I got back I only caught the last song, but it was incredible! This the newest release that I know about. They get you with the food trucks and wristbands at SXSW.”
You can listen to Fruit Tones’ latest record here.