Burn Baby Burn - #37 Friendly Fires - Friendly Fires

I'm stumped as what to write for this album. It's been a mainstay in my weekly listening schedule for the last couple of months, but I'm so preoccupied by tomorrow's offering, Elbow's Build a Rocket Boys!, that I'm not sure I'll do Friendly Fires justice here, I'll certainly try my best.

I'm honestly unsure what it is about this album that enjoy so much. It's probably just that it seems like a lot of fun, and has a summertime feel to it. Friendly Fires definitely prefer to do things with a dance and a swagger, and although they have the instruments to be an indie band, they are definitely better placed at the front of a rave than they are a moshpit, although the two may not be entirely mutually exclusive.

After a promising start, the album really comes to life at track three, Paris, where a rattling cowbell is actually the driving force behind the track, and the naturally optimistic lyrics and euphoric chorus really open the album up. If a song like this doesn't improve your mood, there's something a little wrong with you. You can check it out by clicking anywhere on this link. Don't remember to come back though!

The cowbell (a criminally underused instrument) is evident in quite a lot of this album actually, and it's testament to Friendly Fires sense of fun that it is there in the first place, to have it featuring heavily on songs is testament to the confidence that they have in themselves, but also a mental strength not to take themselves too seriously.

I'm tempted to keep this short from now on. Strobe sees the band slow everything down a little, and to be honest, the album is more enjoyable on its more upbeat tracks, but that's not to discredit the slower numbers. It's just easier to imagine being in a small room, dancing like a moron to songs such as Lovesick, that have a catchy beat throughout.

I honestly have no idea how to categorise the band, and it seems wrong to try to pigeonhole them into one genre. Are they an indie band? Possibly. Should we be calling them an electro outfit? You could argue for it, yes.

For now, I'll just let you know that they are a great dance band. From everything that I've read about them, they also put on a fantastic show, and thanks to this album, and their recently-released second LP, Pala, I know that I'll certainly be checking them out.

An afternoon slot in the sun, taking in some dance(ish) music, surrounded by friends and full to brimming with beer sounds like a hell of a day to me.

See you next time, Elbow are up *he says with an excited smirk*.