Friendly Fires - Pala

Their eponymous debut was far more standard dance-punk: heavy on live bass lines and live percussion. But with "Pala" Fires have turned a corner onto a decidedly more electronic avenue. It's so different that at time it's almost hard to recognize them as Friendly Fires.

"Pala" employs a seemingly indistinguishable mix of live and sampled material similar to British producer and recording artist Bibio. The first two tracks are consummately electro but track three "Running Away" is a little more live. It brings them back a little to the first album but only momentarily.

The vocals are, as I read another reviewer describe them, dramatic and "priapic". They just scream bright lights, discotheques, and ecstasy when coupled with the band's galloping bass beats and shimmering synths.

It's hard not to feel warm inside after playing through this.

Grade: B+

Compact disc/mp3 album review no. 2: Friendly Fires by Friendly Fires

I found this band in a weird, roundabout way. The story starts with me listening to an old post-punk band called Section 25. They were on the Factory Records label, the same label Joy Division and New Order were signed to, I'd found them on Factory compilation I'd just bought on iTunes and that I plan to review some time soon. I was listening to one of their songs and saw that it was called "Friendly Fires" and I thought to myself, that's a strange title but I think I've heard it somewhere before. It turns out that I'd spied it, and you'll all probably notice that this is a recurring theme on my blog, on the title of a song on one of Pitchfork magazine's top 100 songs lists. The song was called "Paris" and so I downloaded their debut, self-titled, album to see what all the fuss was about (the song on the Pitchfork list was remixed by someone else so I had no idea what Friendly Fires actually sounded like by themselves).

I was pleased to find a thoughtful but dancy electronic band upon listening to Friendly Fires. Though they're heavy on synths and super-streamlined electronic production there are plenty of times where the old-school, bass driven post-punk beats leak through to reveal their influences. FF's drumbeats and soulful funky vocals fit in perfectly with cool electronic contemporaries like James Murphy's LCD Soundsystem. I expect great things from FF in the future.

I'll keep it short and let you all decide what you think, if you haven't already heard the album, but here are some of my favorite songs from Friendly Fires:


Lovesick^


Jump In The Pool^


In The Hospital ^