A common complaint music artists receive is that their songs sound too similar, offering listeners no innovation in their sound or deeper exploration through their lyricism. So when an artist builds a discography of diverse sounds and styles that blend different genres, they offer listeners a unique experience that allows them to fall in love with their music again and again.

There’s a careful art to a band evolving and changing their sound. It does not always work. But, dear reader, indie rock band Pretoria never disappoints with each new creative direction it takes, whether that is with rampageous garage rock sounds or indie pop vibes infused with a tinge of funk.

With a deluge of hefty guitar hooks and a healthy dose of pop-punk beats, Pretoria first broke into the indie rock scene in 2018 with the release of its now-archived self-titled EP. Founded in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by high school friends Josh Bilisko, Rob Gullett and Ben DeWitt, the band has created cohesive, yet fresh-feeling projects ever since.

Now based in Chicago, the band’s latest EP, “If We’re Pretending,” released in 2025, ushers in a bold, addictive and more mature sound. While remaining loyal to the high-strung, scrappy sound that longtime fans love, the EP combines all of the best elements from across their discography to present a newly packaged product. It also features non-gendered language to represent lead songwriter and drummer DeWitt’s pansexual identity.

Three rowdy guitar parts collide at the beginning of the opening track, “Boil Water Notice,” to create a riveting hook. Lead singer, Gullett, adds gnarly, punky character through the lyrics “You blew my brains out into the water supply” before plunging into the first verse.

While each of the seven tracks on the EP is a diamond in the rough of the indie-rock soundscape, “Emerson, Everywhere” remains indelible as a single. With its twangy guitar in the post-chorus paired with spacey guitar tones in the outro, the track is sonically appetizing and guaranteed to ring in any listener’s ear for days.

“If We’re Pretending” is a distinctly evolved body of work compared to the band’s 2019 four-track EP “Cape Town,” yet listeners can find much of what makes it significant in the bones of the latter.

Pretoria even wrote “Laundry II” on “If We’re Pretending” as a response to “Laundry” from “Cape Town.” While both sound radically different, they contain the soul of the band, with introspective and critical lyrics like “I hope you get / What you need and not what you deserve” and “Am I all the parts you take / Or just the vessel that remains” from “Laundry” and “Laundry II” respectively

After “Cape Town,” the band released a string of solid singles from 2018 to 2022, like “Expert” and “Gently.” Pretoria then struck gold with their light-hearted, jumpy pop-ish track “Roller Derby.” The song goes beyond being a simple indie surf hit. It’s infused with romantic vibes reminiscent of ‘50s sensibilities and ‘80s nostalgia, with boisterous lines like “‘Cause we were dancing, touching / Bumping into each other / And it stayed that way / ‘Til the end of the summer.”

Pretoria’s following single, “Fat Chance,” is packed with funky riffs, soothing keyboard and swinging vocals, creating a unique track unlike the rest of the band’s discography. Even as the song is a little more restrained in composition, the energy picks up with ease, driven by snappy lyrics like: “You wanna take me back, well fat chance.”

“Where Will the Night Take Us?,” Pretoria’s debut and only album from 2023, features clean production and intentional track arrangements. The opening track, “As If,” and “Just Your Average Above-Average Kisser” are succinct and teeming with pop-rock vibrancy, especially the latter, which features a delectable line: “Minutes into miles and it only got better / Kicking at the tires of your shitbox Jetta.”

“Black Glass” is the most-streamed and best track from the album, seeping with an ineffable, nostalgic, heart-wrenching, yearning vibe. It refuses to allow listeners to enjoy the endearing composition, as tragic lyrics discuss discarding the cologne the singer wore for an ex. The lines “Although when I think of you lately / All I see is some other girl” near the end of the track strike a powerful chord that lingers as the instrumental outro leaves listeners mystified.

Even as much of their music takes varying tones, themes and sounds, each release from the band is witty and replayable. With their constantly evolving sound and ability to adopt a variety of styles, Pretoria proves that reinvention and adaptation aren’t a departure from their identity but part of what keeps their sound alive.

Aden Max Juarez is a sophomore writing about non-mainstream music in his column, “Underground Earworms,” which runs every other Thursday. He is also an Arts and Entertainment editor at the Daily Trojan.