Fcukers Finally Drop Their Debut Album After Doubts It Would Be Finished

Released today (March 27), Fcukers’ first full length album Ö stands as an achievement not just for its creative, energetic, and stylish sound, but also because there was a period when it was uncertain whether the project would ever be completed.

The New York based dance rock pair, Shanny Wise and Jackson Walker Lewis, first made waves with their 2024 EP Baggy$$, which quickly earned strong critical praise and positioned them as one of the most talked about rising acts in the post Brat dance movement. Tracks such as “Bon Bon” and “Homie Don’t Shake” showcased a mix of electronic production, guitar driven textures, touches of disco, and Wise’s distinctive airy vocal style. The release placed Fcukers firmly within the tradition of indie sleaze and the DFA Records sound.

Following the EP’s September 2024 arrival, Fcukers performed at influential festivals such as Portola and Pitchfork London. Their growing profile also attracted supporters like Billie Eilish and James Murphy. By February 2025, they were confirmed as an opening act for Tame Impala’s worldwide 2025/26 Deadbeat Tour. The timing seemed perfect for a debut album, but the expectations surrounding it also became overwhelming.

“We didn’t expect to be touring for a year off an EP,” says Lewis. “It was this unexpected success, so then it almost felt like the debut album had the pressure of a debut, but also [the expectations] of a sophomore album. Usually with a debut, nobody knows what your vibe is yet, but we had established a vibe. So it was like, ‘Where do we take this?’”

“I was feeling a lot of pressure,” Lewis continues. “There were a lot of people in my ear saying like, ‘Whatever you do, it has to be good.’ I hit a wall where I was like, ‘I can’t do this.’ I went to the label and was like, ‘No deadlines. You might not get any music this year. I’m not in [a] great spot.'”

Things began to shift when Wise and Lewis traveled to Los Angeles around the time of their Coachella appearance last April. Their manager arranged a session with respected Los Angeles producer Kenneth Blume, better known as Kenny Beats. At the time, Blume had just wrapped work on Geese’s debut Getting Killed, although it had not yet been released. “So he wasn’t top of dome [for] everyone,” says Lewis.

Initially, he was not even a major consideration for Fcukers. “We were on the way to something else,” Wise recalls about their first meeting with Blume. “We were literally just going to stop by for a coffee.” Those other plans quickly changed after the group created two new songs during that first meeting. That creative spark helped break the creative block they had been experiencing. They ended up canceling other plans and spending the rest of the week working from Blume’s studio.

“We ended up working with him for two weeks straight, and in that time wrote and recorded most of the album,” says Wise. They only arrived with two partially developed ideas, with everything else built from the ground up. A major factor was their trust in Blume’s production skills, which “freed us up to really just focus on writing and allowed us to do it so much faster,” says Wise. “It wasn’t like, ‘Does the kick drum sound good?’ We knew it was going to sound f–king great.”

The trio settled into a demanding routine that stretched to 11 hour workdays. “It was literally on some crazy,” Wise says. “We’d wake up, get coffee at nine, drive to his studio, work until 8:00 p.m., go to sleep and do the same thing again the next day.” During the first week they completed three songs per day. The second week was spent polishing and selecting the strongest material, leaving the 11 song album nearly finished. Inspired by Prince’s symbol period, and feeling that “every word under the sun has been used for album titles,” they ultimately chose the title Ö.

Featuring extra production from Dylan Brady of 100 gecs, the album arrives today through Ninja Tune, which Lewis describes as “one of the few labels out there that could really straddle a project that’s both a band and electronic.”

Before becoming Fcukers, Wise and Lewis, both 28, had each played in several New York bands. Lewis also spent time DJing across the city while working bar jobs. Although they moved in the same circles, they were formally introduced through a mutual friend and quickly bonded over a shared interest in exploring electronic music together.

“I was DJing in New York a lot, and remember one of the first times I played Le Bain,” says Lewis. “I was like, ‘Okay, this is what it feels like to play a packed club.’ I was spinning vinyl and really into ’90s house and other dance music so when Shanny and I met it wasn’t like a grand aspiration, but more thinking that it would be fun to make music like the music I was DJing.”

“I didn’t listen to any house music before I met Jackson,” adds Wise, “so I feel like we’re always coming at it from different sides in a cool way. Because I didn’t have any preconceived notion of what house music is, or how I should sing and sound. I think that maybe adds something cool to it.”

Even though both were comfortable playing several instruments and had experience with digital production software, their electronic direction developed naturally. “When we first met Shanny was like, ‘Do you know how to make electronic music?’ and I was like, ‘No, but we can figure it out,” says Lewis. Over time they shaped a sound that blends styles from different eras, combining trap, drum & bass, garage, R&B, rock, and influences from early 2000s artists they grew up listening to such as Nelly, Lily Allen, Outkast, and Dizzee Rascal.

Fcukers will soon bring this genre blending sound on the road with a 42 date tour running from April 2 through September 20. The schedule includes headline shows across North America and England, appearances at Bonnaroo and Barcelona’s Primavera Sound, support slots for six Rüfüs Du Sol shows in the United States, and even opening performances for Harry Styles on July 17 and 18 in São Paulo. Performing songs from an album they once doubted would exist makes these moments even more meaningful.

“We recently did three sold out nights in London and the crowds were crazy, singing all the words,” says Wise. “I got chills. I’ve toured a lot in other bands and have never felt that type of connection before. It’s sometimes easy to not realize growth as it’s happening little by little, but then there are those moments where it’s like, ‘Whoa, what the hell.'”

“We’ve made it way farther than I ever thought we would in my wildest dreams,” echoes Lewis. “Anything that happens beyond this is a bonus."