Photo: Julian Bajsel

Gilligan Moss teams with Holiday87 on “New Best Friend”

The name “Gilligan” makes me think of two buddies on a tropical island, just like Gilligan and The Skipper on the 60s sitcom Gilligan’s Island. Only this time it’s Gilligan Moss and Holiday87 (The Knocks’ Ben Ruttner) chillin’ on a track called “New Best Friend”, which sounds like a funkier Tame Impala. The song imparts a joyous sense of well-being, like you’re enjoying a glass of wine on the beach in Martinique.

Gilligan Moss consists of Ben Cronin and Evan Dorfman, who first met years ago in a preschool class in Chicago. The duo recently wrapped up a tour supporting ODESZA, and their previous single “Love Song” was enthusiastically received in both the US and UK.

Keeping up with Ruttner’s many record labels can be challenging. He created both the Black Clay and HeavyRoc Music labels, but “New Best Friend” comes to you courtesy of Foreign Family Collective.

The Knocks will be a headliner at this summer’s Lollapalooza in Chicago, fueled by the worldwide success of the group’s HISTORY album from last year (which makes my short list of Five Best Albums of this decade).

Says Gilligan Moss: “‘NBF came about on a writing trip with our friend Ben (Holiday87, The Knocks). It was a very natural-feeling collaboration and unlike many of our other songs, most of the parts came quickly then all at once. It’s a tune about how we locate ourselves through the trends of our time, and the inevitability of the clock moving forward. The lyrics were written while eating a large Cafe Panna ice cream sundae.”

Listen to “New Best Friend” below, or find it on your streamer of choice.


“New Best Friend” is out now on Foreign Family Collective.

Follow Gilligan Moss on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Follow Holiday87 on Instagram and Twitter.