'Friendly Fires' by Friendly Fires
Trotter’s Top Ten position : 4 in 2008
UK Chart high : 21 in 2009
I can't tell you how close Friendly Fires got to making it into the Top Ten dear reader, as I'm currently replaying their debut and rediscovering how brilliant it is. However, competition is fierce and I've had to stand coldly back and re-examine it in its entirety while wearing my best 'pondering face' and stroking my beard. If not for a couple of album tracks this would have sailed into the top fifth of this chart I can tell you, that and for cheekily re-releasing the album around a year later after a Mercury nomination and 're-packaging' with a few extra tracks. That one of those tracks is the wondrously sunny, technicolour 'Kiss of Life' is reason enough to forgive them though. So what is 'Friendly Fires' made of? A masterful blend of funk, ambience, pop and electronic perfection with a liberal dash of samba drums, cowbells and guitar riffage. Much like 'Vampire Weekend', this is a debut that has sunlight streaming out of its jewel case (unless you purchased online in which case it doesn't). There are sections, such as in the euphoric 'Jump in the Pool' that just make you want to get up and boogie - or whatever the kids are doing these days - or just, well, jump in a pool - or songs that simply make you wonder how anyone can squeeze such expertly crafted pop wizardry into three and a half minutes such as in 'Paris' and 'Strobe'. It's a couple of tracks in particular that really show off this young group's talent though. First, their debut single 'On Board' which starts off with a simple enough slap bass (yes, that's right) and within a few minutes is partying with a multitude of instruments before exploding with a quite scarily funky guitar solo. I just didn't imagine it would soundtrack an awards ceremony for a mascot piggy-back 100m dash though (see charmingly home-made video below and get on down from about 2:40mins). Finally, there's 'Skeleton Boy' which sums up their white-boy, funk/geek chic to perfection and demonstrates how cool dad-dancing is in its video. Live performances have seen them beef up their sound with whole armies of drummers and assorted percussionists, as they tinker with their music with abandon. This certainly helped them shape the sound of last single 'Kiss of Life' and without a shadow of a doubt will ensure they continue to develop their tricks for their eagerly awaited second album. For the effort and care they obviously pour into making what is essentially 'just' pop music and the little worlds they build up within each song I'm declaring them the Pet Shop Boys' successors and placing the future of intellegent British pop in their dainty little mitts.
Look at Skeleton Boy ; Paris ; Jump in the Pool ; Kiss of Life ; On Board
Listen to a sampling of the Top Fifty on Spotify as we go or the 'one from each album' version
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