Review Summary: Fun, fresh, and oddly familiar.
People reading reviews on this site will generally like some form of "rock" music - for a site that used to be dedicated to tabs, this isn’t really a surprise. However, many people tend to branch out after a few years of religiously following the standard rock band lineage - especially when you want something to dance to. Even a band like the Red Hot Chili Peppers - one of the most tabbed bands in this site's previous life - a band known for lacing their alternative rock with funk stylings - fail to really fulfil this. But at the same time, I'd be surprised to find reviews for Ultrabeat, Basshunter or any other artist you'd expect to pop up on "Generic Club Anthems 2009" garnering widespread praise here. Well, with Friendly Fires, you'll find a happy medium.
Not stylistically, of course. This isn't electronic music, there's no beat pounding away at ridiculous-bpm, it's not "rave" music so to speak. It's not exactly "nu-rave" (whatever that actually was) either. I'd describe it as dance rock or something. Tracks like "In the Hospital" ebb with a familiar sounding funk groove - friendly, familiar, but stopping just short of disco cheese. Singles such as opener "Jump in the Pool" and "Paris" exudes the kind of "euphoric" feeling suitable for dancing - soaring synths and soft female vocals surrounding the more familiar indie rock cry of lead singer Ed McFarlane. Album track "Strobe" pretty much feels like floating - capturing the "euphoric" dynamic of the aforementioned two tracks and distilling into it into a song unto itself.
A song like "White Diamonds" is perhaps a weaker link in the album - and this might sound regressive - but the sound of the band stretching their creative wings - post punk influences undoubtedly present - perhaps waters down the more "fun" moments of the album, which is definitely the strong suite of Friendly Fires. This is, in my mind, displayed nowhere better than standout track "On Board" - which would have been a sure-fire hit had it been released. Building up with a simple but effective bass line, adding bell like percussion, hand claps and finally another "irritatingly in a good way" familiar synth part, this builds up into pretty much the ultimate party track, lead guitar presiding over the fun at the end. Definitely a highlight. The following tracks follow suite, with the track "Photobooth" incorporating the aforementioned "post punk" influence found earlier on with Friendly Fire's more danceable style to some success.
Overall, this is a really fun album, with enough going on creatively for it not to wear thin after a few listens. Definitely worth checking out, especially if your into alternative rock/indie type music.
