REVIEW: Friko for (All) the Ages
05.26.24
[KILBY COURT_SLC_05252024]
Friko—a virtuosic duo who somehow manage to evoke on stage the energy of like an entire Baroque-rock collective à la Broken Social Scene—have cracked the code of the debut-album live set. They’ve a fiery presence that fills the eager bellies of a chic young crowd, while their encyclopedic post-punk/indie/capital-r Rock references charm the chaperones that might think Friko are too young to know their sonic lineage (their cover of Elliott Smith’s “Ballad of Big Nothing" was noticeably a backrow smash).
Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, Friko’s first realease with ATO Records (My Morning Jacket, King Gizzard, Liz Phair, Stars, etcetcetc) lands somewhere between that new-Baroque sadness of Fevers & Mirrors and the urgency of Read Music/Speak Spanish (they’ve not explicitly mentioned Conor Oberst as an influence, but there are some clear throughlines in vocal style and instrumentation)(accipe hoc: compare Where we’ve been’s cover art with Fevers). But there’s a jnsq in how the pieces comprise an eclectic new whole that positions Friko with a peculiar edge—and a fool-proof shot at leaving a lasting impression.
“Crimson To Chrome” opens the show. It’s sharp and dynamic and circumstantiates for any first-time listeners that Friko came to play. “For Ella” serves as a cadenza of sorts, quieting the crowd for a peek at the band’s palpable charisma (I’m an absolute sucker for dedicating songs to a person in the crowd). And finally, we “Get Numb To It!” for a pithy third movement.
The best part of the show tho is their chemistry. It’s clear that Niko and Bailey (with David on bass) have a real interior. They’re litrly having fun. They laugh together. They sign vinyls and run their own merch (which was a bit lol thanks to a wifi debacle, classique). And even tho there’s an intensity and a loneliness in their music, they still just... smile so much? Like there’s nothing (post-)ironic or hot-headed about Friko’s magnetism. They’re Musicians, they’re an antidote for the Age of Anxiety, they’re an absolute testament, and they’re rly set up to win as New-New Sincerity’s headiest fwends.