Some bands carve a niche; New Yorkers PFFU demolish the concept entirely. Their debut album, ghostass, doesn’t just blur genre boundaries—it sprints through them with reckless abandon, and we haven’t stopped listening since its release last week. From intricate walls of sound to unexpectedly danceable grooves, their music feels like a kaleidoscope of moods and ideas, pulled together by a shared love for the unpredictable… And small rodents. Whether it’s the nostalgia of holiday music or the raw energy of underground scenes, PFFU distills wildly different influences like shoegaze, bubblegum pop, grunge and educational, family-friendly folk music into something both fresh and utterly their own.
Here’s what PFFU’s Philip had to say about how it all came together.
Hey, who are you and how are you?
Hey – Philip Francis here, ready to say some words.
If you could introduce yourselves as a band in three words, what would they be?
Yes. Extremely Good.
What’s the weirdest or funniest thing that’s happened this week?
We released our debut album ghostass and now labels won’t leave us alone.
Tell us about the journey leading up to PFFU. How does this differ from other bands/projects you’re involved in?
We’ve all been in/are in other bands for a very long time. Some of us have spent a lot of years touring and such. Personally I wanted to have a band that could be anything at any time, and this feels like that.
For someone hearing your music for the first time, what’s the one song you’d want them to start with, and why?
I think ‘Crangy #3’ is a nice introduction, but the album kind of hops all over the place. If you enjoy that song there are similar things to it on the record, but also tracks like ‘Paw the Sun’ and ‘IS GOD?’ that are a pretty big departure from that sound and feeling.
Is there a lyric or line from your work that you think best represents what the band stands for?
“You wish the hell I was your Dad”
What’s a surprising influence on your sound that listeners might not expect?
Raffi and Christmas music. Raffi was a huge influence on the songwriting and feel and Christmas music, the nostalgia and grandiosity informed a lot of how this record comes off.
What’s the strangest or most unexpected place you’ve found inspiration for a song?
Mice. There have been mice everywhere for so long, and when we were working on ghostass they kept showing up and it seemed like we could really pull from the experience – seeing them, hearing them, and then watching them when they move.
What’s a track on the album that almost didn’t make it, and why? How did you decide to keep it?
‘Paw the Sun’ was originally a black metal song. Legitimately. It was huge and distorted and such a loud mess with blast beats and massive guitars. Eventually I replaced the blast beats with a groove, which morphed into a 4 on the floor thing, and gradually it ended up being a kind of wall-of-sound dancefloor track. Would love to do a 12” with remixes for it.
How do the dynamics between band members influence the creative process? Does everyone contribute equally, or is there a “leader” in the mix?
Everyone has been touched by the sound, so we co-exist. Ghostass brought us together.
What are your go-to snacks when spending time writing and recording?
Modelo, Rolling Rock, Plain Seltzer, M&Ms, Donuts.
What’s the last most useful piece of advice you’ve had?
17 Mouse – in all the years I’ve known you I’ve never smelled you from afar.
If you could only change one thing in the world, big or small, what would it be?
Right now? Dumb to settle for one, there are two – end the genocide in Gaza and keep the US government away from deciding what people do with their bodies.
