Rare Americans

Rare Americans are an exuberant Vancouver combo with a flair for the theatrical who have found viral success with the genre-mashing indie pop-punk of songs like “Cats, Dogs & Rats” and “Brittle Bones Nicky.” Led by brothers James and Jared Priestner, the prolific band have self-released numerous records, including their eponymous 2018 debut and the concept albums Jamesy Boy & the Screw Loose Zoo (2021) and Searching for Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo (2023). Known for their strong visual aesthetic, the group’s albums are often accompanied by animated videos that support their thematic elements, like on 2024′s The Human Animal. The idea for the band came about almost as a dare when, during a 2018 vacation to the Caribbean, the two Priestner brothers decided on a whim to try and write an entire album together. After returning to Canada, they managed to knock out Rare Americans’ self-titled debut in just ten days with the help of their friend Lubo Ivan. Combining the energy of pop-punk with elements of rap, funk, pop, punk, and various other styles, the album became a streaming success in 2018, thanks especially to the melodic, ska-like “Cats, Dogs & Rats.” Their 2019 single “Brittle Bones Nicky” fared even better, notching millions of streams. By this point, Rare Americans had expanded into a full six-piece band with the addition of Jan Cajka, Duran Ritz, and Ginger Chen, and they issued their follow-up, Rare Americans 2, in early 2021. Proving to be prolific as well as imaginative, the group’s third album, Jamesy Boy & the Screw Loose Zoo, arrived later that year with an animated video fleshing out its story. Over the next three years, Rare Americans managed to release a new project every year beginning with 2022′s You're Not a Bad Person, followed a year later by the concept album Searching for Strawberries: The Story of Jongo Bongo, then 2024′s The Human Animal. ~ Timothy Monger