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February Records is proud to announce the digital release of “Sour,” the latest EP from Sushi Backpack.
The Chicago-based bedroom-pop outfit is fronted by songwriter and guitarist Ben Austin. After playing in post-rock and garage bands, he was inspired to start playing indiepop and to start Sushi Backpack when he was living in Cleveland, Ohio, in the mid- to late-2000’s and listening to local bands like Afternoon Naps, Bears and Trouble Books.
On “Sour,” Ben is joined by Gooey Fame on drums, Nikki Geslani on bass and vocals and Jen Lee on keyboards, for recording and playing live, with additional long-distance vocal support from Leanne Butkovic.
Sushi Backpack plays fun, upbeat indiepop that draws inspiration from bands such as Rocketship, Die Fünf Freunde and Citrus, but the first band you might think of when you hear them is Tullycraft.
Sushi Backpack came to our attention after being included on the wonderful “Secret Gardens” compilation released in 2017 by Fallen Love Records. Before that, they self-released an EP of demos — appropriately called “One Day You Have to Face Your Demos” — on cassette, which has since sold out.
The five-song EP “Sour” by Sushi Backpack is available exclusively as a digital download.