The Fake Friends – “A Sucker Born Every Minute”
(Montreal, Québec — Released December 11, 2025 via Stomp Records)
Post-Punk / Dance-Punk / Indie Rock / Power-Pop Punk
With “A Sucker Born Every Minute,” Montreal’s The Fake Friends throw open the door to their debut LP Let’s Not Overthink This with a sharp, kinetic statement of intent. The track snaps with urgency and wit, balancing wiry post-punk tension against a propulsive, dance-ready pulse. It’s the sound of a band that understands movement - of bodies on a floor, of thoughts spiraling at 2 a.m., of momentum building whether you’re ready for it or not.
Rooted in Montreal’s tightly interwoven punk and indie underground, The Fake Friends feel like a product of proximity and collision. Shared apartments, overlapping projects, borrowed gear, borrowed time. Led by Matthew Savage, alongside guitarists Felix Crawford-Legault and Luca Santilli, bassist Michael Kamps, keyboardist Bradley Cooper-Graham, and drummer Michael Tomizzi, the six-piece pulls from a wide lineage: hardcore grit, power-pop immediacy, post-punk restraint, and the restless clarity of early-2000s alternative rock. Nothing sits still for long.
“A Sucker Born Every Minute” captures that restless energy with remarkable focus. The guitars lock into taut, nervous lines while the rhythm section drives forward with controlled impatience. There’s a tension at the heart of the song - swagger rubbing up against self-awareness. Savage’s vocals cut through with a knowing edge, circling themes of burned bridges, bad habits, and the familiar urge to outrun consequence. It’s confrontational without being preachy, self-critical without sinking into self-pity. The hook doesn’t just stick — it challenges.
As a first glimpse of Let’s Not Overthink This, the single signals a band expanding its frame. The album, shaped across Montreal’s rehearsal rooms and studios — including sessions at Mixart with producer and engineer Jordan Barillaro — leans into bigger arrangements and a stronger sense of rhythm. Guitars and keys weave more deliberately, grooves hit harder, and the chaos feels earned rather than accidental. It’s still loud, still jagged, still emotionally direct - just sharper around the edges.
Live, The Fake Friends have already proven their staying power. Touring across the Midwest and East Coast, sharing stages with Buzzcocks, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and Wine Lips, and landing placements as far-reaching as Hockey Night in Canada, they’ve built a reputation as a band that thrives under pressure. Sweat-heavy shows, no wasted motion, songs that hit harder once you’ve lived with them.
“A Sucker Born Every Minute” doesn’t try to reinvent post-punk. It doesn’t need to. Instead, it refines it — stripping things back to tension, melody, and forward motion. It’s danceable without being glossy, smart without being smug, and urgent without burning out. As the opening move toward Let’s Not Overthink This, it feels like a band stepping fully into their own skin.
A first crack in the door — and the sound of it about to be kicked wide open.
© Chad Cornies
The Fake Friends are:
Matthew Savage - Vocals
Felix Crawford-Legault - Guitar
Luca Santilli - Guitar
Michael Kamps - Bass
Bradley Cooper-Graham - Keyboards, vocals
Michael Tomizzi - Drums
