Best Frenz

Initially meeting during a 2018 coheadline tour with their respective bands, Best Frenz officially formed in 2020 as a collaborative side project between Daniel Armbruster (Joywave) and Jason Suwito (Sir Sly). The pair began to share song ideas over the internet during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, eventually yielding an EP entitled 30% Off!. The 2020 release focused heavily on current events and was intended to serve as a snapshot of the moment as both Joywave and Sir Sly had canceled all touring during the worldwide lockdowns. Upon completion of the EP, Suwito and Armbruster resumed work on their main projects, resulting in Sir Sly’s 2021 release, The Rise and Fall of Loverboy, and Joywave’s 2022 full-length, Cleanse. By mid-2022 though the duo had begun sharing ideas remotely again, this time shutting off the news and opting for an escapist theme dressed up conceptually as a metaphysical mall. In the same way one finds a hodgepodge of sushi, shoes, plushies, and CDs at the local shopping center, you’ll discover bossa nova, indie rock, tinges of hip-hop, and house music all sitting next to each other on Best Frenz’s 2023 debut LP, appropriately titled The Mall.