All Your Friends

About All Your Friends

All Your Friends started in the late 2010s in Brooklyn, which tells you almost everything you need to know about their initial sound. The band formed when guitarist Tom Grimes and vocalist Sarah Chen met at a house show in Bushwick, bonded over their mutual love of early Rilo Kiley and The National, and decided they could probably do something similar but worse. They were right at first, but they got better.

The early lineup shuffled around for about a year before settling on bassist Marcus Webb and drummer Jill Patterson, who'd both played in various DIY bands that never made it past a self-released EP. They recorded their first demos in Tom's apartment using a single microphone and a laptop running a cracked version of Logic Pro. Those tracks ended up on Bandcamp in 2018, mostly so they'd have something to send to venues when booking shows.

Their debut album "Mutual Acquaintances" came out in 2019 on a small indie label that mainly existed because someone's cousin knew how to file LLC paperwork. The record didn't light the world on fire, but songs like "Read Receipts" and "Sunday Scaries" got some traction on Spotify playlists aimed at people who describe themselves as "emotionally unavailable but working on it." The production was thin, Sarah's vocals were mixed too quiet, and the whole thing clocked in at thirty-two minutes. It was fine.

They toured regionally, playing to crowds of twenty to fifty people who were mostly there for the headliner. By 2020, they'd built enough of a following to headline small rooms themselves, and then the world shut down. Like everyone else, they spent lockdown writing songs via Zoom and arguing about whether their next album should sound more like Alvvays or more like Snail Mail.

"Adjacent Strangers" arrived in 2022 with better production, tighter arrangements, and Sarah finally high enough in the mix that you could understand the lyrics. The album showed growth without abandoning what worked. Tracks like "Parallel Lives" and "Decline to State" felt more confident, and the band finally figured out how to write a bridge that didn't just repeat the chorus melody. They got college radio play, some write-ups in music blogs you've maybe heard of, and an opening slot on a national tour with a band big enough to actually have a tour bus.

They're currently based in Philadelphia, having fled Brooklyn when their collective rent hit a number that made recording music financially irresponsible. They've been working on album three, playing regional shows, and maintaining the kind of modest career that lets you call yourself a working musician without needing a trust fund. Not famous, not broke, just making music that sounds like being in your late twenties feels.

Shows tend toward quiet intensity. People actually listen instead of just standing there. The kind of crowd that goes silent between songs. Energy builds gradually rather than exploding. Sound quality matters to them, so technical mishaps can derail momentum. Mostly people who already know the songs.

Known for Missing Person, Collage, Saturday Night, Better Days, Velvet

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