Fusing the energy of Midwest garage rock with the hook-laden melodies and lovelorn lyrics of vintage power pop, the Singles are a rock & roll band whose members started making a name for themselves in Michigan and are still giving their fans bright, tuneful music after relocating to California. The Singles were formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1999 by guitarist, singer, and songwriter Vince Frederick. Citing first-generation rockers like Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly as influences, Frederick put together the band with guitarist Will Yates, bassist Dave Lawson, and drummer Dave Knepp. The Singles began making the rounds of Michigan rock clubs, and won a following for their power pop-influenced sound. In 2003, they struck a deal with noted indie pop label Rainbow Quartz Records, and cut their first album, Better Than Before, with producer and engineer Jim Diamond. While the album received strong reviews, especially from the British press, sales were not as impressive, and it would be three years before the group cut its second long-player, Start Again, for its own Sound Artifacts Records, with Diamond once again at the controls. The album featured a new Singles lineup, with Frederick accompanied by John Hale on bass and Brian Thunders on drums. The Singles released three singles in 2009, with Frederick and Thunders accompanied by new bassist Ryan Hurnevich, but the band went on hiatus when Frederick decided to move to the West Coast, settling in Los Angeles. He continued using the name the Singles, releasing the single "Tomorrow I'll Be Blue" in 2011, and in 2012 he teamed up with drummer and singer Nicky Veltman, a fellow transplant from Detroit to Los Angeles who had previously played with Motor City garage rockers the Gore Gore Girls. Working with a rotating lineup of bass players, Frederick and Veltman set out to establish themselves on the Southern California club scene, and released a new single in 2013, "(She's Got) A Heart of Stone." In 2014, Frederick and Veltman went into the studio with producer Rick Parker, and the result was the belated third album from the Singles, Look How Fast a Heart Can Break. In February 2015, the Singles received some unexpected publicity when actress and singer Scarlett Johansson announced she was forming a band with Holly Miranda and Este Haim that was to be called...the Singles. When the new group released a single called "Candy," Frederick and Veltman wasted no time issuing a cease and desist order against Johansson and her bandmates, and the single was soon pulled off the market. Now that the name was theirs and theirs alone, the Singles hit the road for a concert tour, and next returned to the recording studio, where they completed their fourth full-length album, 2017's Sweet Tooth. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi