dog eyes, the lo-fi Oakland duo of Davis Leach and Haily Firstman, were friends before they were bandmates, finding each other through mutual connections at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California. They bonded over a shared love of two-person songwriting teams like Hovvdy & @, and Leach helped produce Firstman’s previous project Mr Marigold. The collaboration was so fruitful it turned into a whole new band.
“I don’t think when we first started working on it we realized how involved we’d get in the process,” says Firstman. “We thought we’d maybe spend a weekend or two, but we both got so into it that it turned into a year and through that time we realized we like working together, we became friends, and we wanted to keep making music.”
That music they’re making together has turned into a cornucopia of hushed & humble mini-epics. On their 2022 debut good, proper sendoff the band littered a hazy collection of lo-fi strummers with field recordings and radio static. The band has been at work on new material for a follow-up that includes the ethereal twee of new single “fair,” along with patient slowcore, mossy indie folk and economical bedroom pop. Each, in its own way, glows with hope from the inside out, radiating the same kind of familiarity and warmth as a conversation with an old friend.
