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Exciting UK band, Friendly Fires, have been gaining attention for their genuinely entertaining dance-pop that fills the space somewhere between M83 and the Klaxons. They are in the midst of a world tour that includes a stop by the East Coast of Australia to play at a sold out Splendour in The Grass in July. Guitarist Edd Gibson was generous enough to find some time between a marathon of touring and fiddling in the studio on their second album to talk to us about Byron Bay, the Cocteau Twins, and the whirlwind of festivals.
AoTW: Hi Edd, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Have you been doing lots of press this morning?
Edd: A little. This morning we are just playing around with a new song that we have been working on over the past months.
AoTW: Ah cool – are you guys doing much recording at the moment or have you been flat out touring?
E: Well at the moment we have a week off and have been trying to record this new song.
AoTW: I read on your website that your next album will have a calypso sound to it. Is that actually true?
E: Ahh yes... Well, the song I mentioned before has a calypso feel, very much like ‘Jump in the Pool’, so it’s kind of picking up from that. But I don’t think the whole album will have a calypso style. It might be a bit too much (laughs)
AoTW: So Friendly Fires will be coming down to Australia for their first tour here. Have any of you guys been to Australia before?
E: I have, yes. When I was just out of school I came down with a friend who has family there.
AoTW: Cool, where about?
E: Um, Adelaide I think
AoTW: Okay cool (snickers). The last stop on your Australian tour is the Splendour in the Grass festival. Are you guys fans of playing festivals?
E: Sometimes they are great, sometimes they can be tricky. We really like playing ones that our friends are involved in.
AoTW: Do you know much about Splendour in the Grass or Byron Bay – the town where it’s set?
E: No not at all! I know we have a few shows in Australia and I know that the festival is the last stop on the tour. What’s it like?
AoTW: Well Byron Bay is probably one of the most beautiful places in Australia...
E: How great!
AoTW: And Splendour in the Grass is one of the most popular festivals. It’s not one of the biggest, but it sells out really quickly. This year it sold out in just over an hour.
E: really?!
AoTW: Do you know much about the other bands on the line up?
E: No. No I wouldn’t have a clue (chuckles)
AoTW: Do you guys try to see other bands play at festivals?
E: Well we try. At most festivals there is always someone great playing that I would love to see. But it can be really rushed – you get on and play, then you get out of there and back on the road. Sometimes it’s a good move not to find out who’s playing so you don’t get disappointed if you have to miss out.
AoTW: I can understand that. So you guys started out in high school as a hardcore/punk band, and now your sound is obviously quite different. Was there a defining moment when you decided to change the sound or was it more of a gradual evolution?
E: When we started the band we were only 14 and had limited exposure to types of music, so we just wanted to make music that sounded like bands we listened to, like NOFX. As we got older we discovered more bands and our influences changed and so did our sound.
AoTW: So what are you listening to at the moment?
E: Well, I am a bit off the pulse at the moment... But I like re-discovering bands at the moment, like I am really into the Cocteau Twins.
AoTW: Are you planning anything special for your live shows?
E: Yeah! We’re planning to hopefully bring down a horn section for the shows, but Australia is so far away so there might be some issues getting them down there. Hopefully we’ll have them for the tour.
AoTW: We do too – that sounds awesome! We’re looking forward to seeing you play.
At this point the phone got cut off, so we didn’t get to ask him what is his current album of the week, but we’ll guess and say it’s ‘Head Over Heels’ by the Cocteau Twins. Make sure you check out the Friendly Fires tour dates and make your way to a show. Dancing, sweat and attractive people guaranteed!
listen to friendly fires
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[Inertia: 2009]
Around here we take a lot of pleasure in writing about great music that really deserves to be heard and, alternatively, great music that you deserve to have the pleasure of hearing. Brooklyn’s Grizzly Bear have released an album with so many beautiful moments that it would be nothing short of cruel to keep it hidden away and hog it all to ourselves. ‘Veckatimest’ features detailed, complex songwriting from Daniel Rossen, who also plays guitar in the band. The various talents of the other band members, Christopher Bear (drums, vocals), Ed Droste (guitar and vocals), and Chris Taylor (bass, woodwind, electronics, vocals), come together in subtle, balanced textures that it is easy to be swept up by the loveliness of it all. To give you a few points of reference, the record makes allusions to 60s pop reminiscent of ‘Pet Sounds’ Beach Boys, the soft jazz-fused folk of Nick Drake, the soulful layered rock of Jeff Buckley and Radiohead, and the modern-pop arrangements of another of the year’s best bands, Plants and Animals, and the earlier work of Animal Collective. If that sounds promising, it’s because it actually IS. ‘Veckatimest’ is full of very pretty, sad-sounding melodies and rich vocal harmonies (“Southern Point”, “Fine For Now” and the stunning “While You Wait For the Others”), as well as some amazingly subtle dynamics within the rhythm section. Maybe one of my favourite things about this record and about this band is the vocals from Edward Droste and Daniel Rossen. Those voices! - They convey such intimacy it almost makes you blush. It makes me blush and I’ve listened to it ten times now.
Despite a couple of brief lulls, on the whole this is an album that is, in a word, beautiful.
listen to grizzly bear
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Dates: 25 & 26 July 2009 Locations: Belongil Fields, Byron Bay
The bill for now: The Flaming Lips, Bloc Party, The Specials, MGMT, Friendly Fires, Jane’s Addiction, Hilltop Hoods, White Lies, Augie March, Decoder Ring, Yves Klein Blue, Jack Ladder, and more to be announced!
The wrap up: Set in beautiful Byron Bay, Splendour has grown from a low key event with a couple of thousand people, to one of the hottest tickets in town that sells out in minutes (literally – 2008 sold out in something like 38 minutes). This festival has a really laidback, cruisey vibe and the majority of the crowd turn up to actually enjoy the music – not just to take lots of drugs and look tres cool in cut-out bikinis (will this trend ever end?). The Splendour line up is always incredibly diverse with a selection of the old and the new, the big names and the Indie locals, and artists that spread across several different genres - from the gothic-metal jams of the re-formed Jane’s Addiction to the soothing electronica of Decoder Ring and legendary ska-revivalists, The Specials.
Don’t miss: The Flaming Lips. It’s a no-brainer. Hearing Wayne Coyne singing ‘Do You Realise??’ while hugging your neighbour under the stars is about as close to heaven as it gets. Also, make sure you have an organic donut. Trust me. They are off the hook.
Avoid: Mud. Well, it would be physically impossible to avoid the mud entirely. Just make sure you are well-equipped to deal with it: pre-purchase gum boots, stick to dark colours, take a garbage bag to sit on, etc.
Here is a little slice of our favourite albums from some of the great bands on the line up. If you haven’t already listened to them please check them out to make your Splendour experience all that and more. Album of The Week will be covering it closely, so watch this space as we add more great Splendour artist albums to the list as new acts get announced in the coming short weeks.
Chin chin.
The Flaming Lips – Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
The Lips have been around for over twenty years. They’ve experienced several highs (winning three Grammys, being voted the creators of the Official rock song of Oklahoma) and survived a number of lows (hardcore drug addiction). At different stages of their existence as a band they have evolved from the psych-rock garage scene, through the early grunge movement (the scene that produced their only “hit” to date: ‘She Don’t Use Jelly’), into an experimental phase of instrumentation and noise, and most recently a unique and psychedelic style of alternative rock.
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (2002) was their tenth full length album, and it remains one of the most ambitious, lush, chaotic, thought-provoking and sonically beautiful records released in the last ten years. From the album’s thoughtful opener ‘Flight Test’ to the bubbly electronic-fused pop of the title track, to the joyous single ‘Do You Realise’ – an existential journey in layman’s terms that is simultaneously sad and uplifting.
The Flaming Lips belong on the list of bands to see before you die, and we are super excited to see them at the Splendour in the Grass festival this year.
Yves Klein Blue – Yves Klein Blue Draw Attention to Themselves EP
Lead singer Michael Tomlinson and his band of rocking red heads have something kind of special going on. They aren’t your standard indie outfit of well-dressed youngsters. Inspired by their dads record collections and a rangy mix of musical influences, Yves Klein Blue create an unpredictable, exciting pop-based sound that meshes rock n roll riffs, waltz-inspired rhythms, pounding piano soul jams, nouveau gypsy flourishes, and addictive pop melodies. The result is a collage of sounds completed by the theatrical vocals of Mr Tomlinson.
We’ve heard the quality of this EP and seen how exciting their live shows are, now we eagerly await their debut full length album set for release this June, so watch this space...
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
You know THAT individual who in social situations will always find a way of ‘place dropping’ and referring to their ‘overseas’ travels? Example: “Actually when I was Paris there was this wonderful little blah blah.” Unless you finish your story with the words “…so It was up to me to land the plane” NO ONE CARES. So I apologise in advance if I start sounding like said individual in the following story:
Listening to Bloc Party’s debut long player Silent Alarm will always take me back to sleeping on the floor at a certain European Airport with an 18 hour wait until my next flight. Having just spent six months in a remote Canadian skiing village I had been completely disconnected from pop culture, so in order to re-familiarize myself with the real world and 18 long hours to burn, I wandered into the airport music store and bought Silent Alarm on a whim.
There is something very liberating (especially today with the instant access to music through the internet) of purchasing a real life record that you know nothing about and have no idea what it will sound like. And it’s even more rewarding when that random record turns out to be a very good one.
Labelled “Art Punk” by many critics, the majority of the album does consist of fast guitars, speedy base and pounding drums. But that’s where the punk stops and the so called “art” begins. Lead singer Kele Okereke’s emotional vocals are reminiscent of the Cure's Robert Smith at times. But not all of the album comes on hard and fast. “Blue light” and “This modern love” are beautiful ballads mixing Kele’s softer vocals with scattered layers of blips and echoes that give the tracks their own subtle power. Since Silent Alarm, Bloc Party have established a different sound and created a massive following after the release of their next two albums, but I have to say Silent Alarm is the superior of the three. It’s also ideal when you’re next to a large snoring man in a European airport… uh… and… so it was up to me to land the plane.
Decoder Ring – Somersault (OST)
Decoder Ring's original score to Cate Shortland's film Somersault (a film that follows the main character Heidi, as she deals with isolation, loneliness and sexual maturity) is a beautifully crafted album that has an (appropriately) cinematic soundscape: textural, evocative, subtle and very atmospheric.
The album begins with bells and xylophones of “Heidi’s Theme”, a sweet and innocent piece that grows with building layers of guitars and violins that soon add echoed guitar notes and gently violins. The title track, “Somersault”, introduces the beautifully hushed vocals of Lenka Kripac, whose soft childlike voice is a perfect foil to the often-dreamlike instrumentation of the band’s main players. The rest of the record has touches of electronica, wavering percussion, simple rock guitar licks and deep organ chords that sigh underneath the melody. Past reviews have compared Decoder Ring to bands like Royksopp, Sigur Ros, Air and My Bloody Valentine, and their live shows are a beautiful and haunting musical experience.
Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires
Friendly Fires released this, their self-titled debut, in September of last year. Their catchy opening track ‘Jump in the Pool’ kicks off what is a very enigmatic, addictive dance-rock record. The songs are filled with captivating percussion showcasing the beloved cowbell and some seriously insane rhythms, as well as melodic vocal lines that will have you hooked. There’s a number of standout tracks filled with fun grooves and infectious dance beats, like ‘Paris’ and ‘Lovesick’. Friendly Fires genuinely entertaining music fills the space somewhere between M83 and the Klaxons, so I recommend taking your dancing shoes (or, more appropriately, your gum boots) to Splendour in preparation for what is sure to be an unanticipated highlight.
official splendour in the grass website
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Exciting UK band, Friendly Fires, have been gaining attention for their genuinely entertaining dance-pop that fills the space somewhere between M83 and the Klaxons. They are in the midst of a world tour that includes a stop by the East Coast of Australia to play at a sold out Splendour in The Grass in July. Guitarist Edd Gibson was generous enough to find some time between a marathon of touring and fiddling in the studio on their second album to talk to us about Byron Bay, the Cocteau Twins, and the whirlwind of festivals. 
