Let’s face it: people love to swear. There’s nothing like yelling, “FUCK!” at top of your lungs – whether you’re pissed, happy, surprised, or a combination of all three – to make you feel alive.
Friendly Foes want you to think of their new EP, “So Obscene,” in the same way: as an emotional release, all boiled down to the simplicity of one forceful exclamation. They want you to feel as alive as they do.
At five tracks, “So Obscene” follows up last year’s barn-burning full-length “Born Radical” (again, working with producer Dave Feeny) with more of the same powerful pop jams you’ve become accustomed to, except this time around, they’ve diversified. The pace is a little slower, the music carrying a bit more muscle (think the Blake Babies mixed with a little, uh, Bachman Turner Overdrive maybe). There’s a new drummer in there – Sean Sommer, also of Allan James and the Cold Wave – hitting the shit out of his kit like a redheaded John Bonham. Guitarist/singer Ryan Allen steps away from his usual lyrical subject matter, attempting something a bit more left-of-center. Bassist Liz Wittman comes into her own, taking a commanding lead on three tracks. And then there’s “A Million Scenes” – featuring just voice and guitar – that shows the Foes do know how to settle down, even if it’s just for a moment.
It’s no secret that critics loved “Born Radical”’s mix of Teenage Fanclub-esque jangle, Superchunk-y speed, and Elvis Costello-ish sneer. Pitchfork hoisted a respective 7.0 rating on it, Alternative Press called it, “a stupidly fun brand of energetic indie rock with superb pop songwriting.” Chicagoist got more to the point, calling it, “Simply indispensable.”
“So Obscene” should be no different. Except that it is different. But not. But it is. Just trust us. Five songs, three people, one EP, and a whole lot of swear words on the cover. You’re probably going to love it.
Friendly Foes have shared the stage with an impressive list of bands, including Sloan, the Walkmen, Electric Six, the Whigs, Real Estate, Locksley, Hymns, the Jealous Girlfriends, Fastball, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Royal Bangs, Times New Viking, Meat Puppets, Born Ruffians, Art Brut, School of Language, Retribution Gospel Choir, This Moment in Black History, Deastro, Pretty and Nice, Ladyhawk, Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains, King Khan and BBQ Show, Women, the Dirtbombs, Anathallo, the Main Drag, the Muggs, the Silent Years, Dosh, ZaZa, the High Strung, Cadence Weapon, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Most Serene Republic, Rose Hill Drive, the Golden Dogs, and loads more.
EPK for "So Obscene"
What folks said about Friendly Foes and "Born Radical":
"Astonishingly, this Detroit-area trio has created not just one catchy track about the journeyman's life, but a song cycle of sorts of vigorous, stupidly sloppy power-pop that deals explicitly with the details of life in a rock band." - Pitchfork (7.0 rating)
"Friendly Foes concoct a stupidly fun brand of energetic indie rock with superb pop songwriting." - Alternative Press (3 1/2 stars)
"Big-guitared-rock-punk-pop that sounds like the Replacements playing the Donnas while listening to an album of AC/DC covers by the Raspberries on the way to a Cheap Trick gig that features a newly reformed Badfinger in the support slot." - Times Online UK
"[An] Undeniably fun [and] frenetic band…a spastically structured brand of mid-'90s indie rock. – Spin.com
"The band and producer Dave Feeny deserve applause for making a recording that really pops." - Pop Matters (7 out of 10)
"Pretentious indie-whatever this is not—the Friendly Foes are here to have a good time, and maybe kick some ass along the way." - URB Magazine
"Hyperactive indie rock sound that kicks like a donkey on a sugar high and has hugely happy hooks that’ll leave you dazed and smiling." - All Music Blog
"Simple-but-driving song structures where guitar plays front-and-center, no questions asked." - XLR8R
"Friendly Foes sound like The New Pornographers on speed." - Chartattack
"Simply indispensable." - Chicagoist
"So chock full of perfect pop rock it's basically guaranteed to warm your cockles and make you wish you had a tambo to shake along." - RCRD LBL
"The songs aren’t complicated, and they don’t pretend to be. Friendly Foes is having a blast and playing music without thinking too hard." - The Donnybrook Writing Academy
"'Born Radical' is made of the kind of bristling, anything goes songs you spend summer days spinning the dial looking for; all chiming guitar, tight three-part harmony choruses and two-minutes and change that leave you feeling dizzy." - Stand Up Jack
"Friendly Foes raging diatribes on rock and roll's currents state of affairs are done with just enough sugar to help this medicine go down." - Powerpopaholic
"A hyper-fuzzed, rousing, rough-around-the-edges rock outfit with sunny-pop in the middle of its jangled shred" – Real Detroit Weekly
"Friendly Foes have hit on a seriously tasty recipe for an eternal good time." – Metro Times
Watch "Couch Surfing" from the "Born Radical" CD Release Show:
"Lewy is currently involved in playing drums for The Exitwound Project and is available for recording with many others."
Also, please be sure to check out "Lewy's" new project to help drummers and their favorite charities called "Drum Solo Cards" at www.drmsolocards.com Tell your friends and send all the drummers that you know to look them up.
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