Friendly Fires

From BlackPlasticIt’s hot as hell in the UK, and as such we are taking a turn into the blissed out tropical sounds of Friendly Fires. At one stage, it felt like the St Albans outfit were positioned to be the UK’s answer to LCD Soundsystem. In reality, they ended up pursuing something more travelled than the angular post punk of James Murphy’s more influential group. The overall sound Friendly Fires became known for is most evident in the opening of their eponymously titled debut album… Jump In The Pool is the perfect soundtrack to the UK’s current 35 degree plus heatwave… much as I described with the Foals’ LP, Total Life Forever, this is a song that glistens with the cool blue sound of water. It’s both refreshing, and a push to seize life. Elsewhere, single Paris is a daydream for what life could hold - a commitment to a close friend (or bandmate) for what is yet to come. Ed Macfarlane’s wispy falsetto, soaring with just a little grit, always gives me goosebumps on the chorus. Similarly, Strobe pulses with an electronic synth, the deconstructed aural experience of bumping into someone on the dancefloor. On Board judders with a little of that aforementioned angular energy, a tense call to arms, guitars arching like a threat. Things close with Ex Lover, a beautiful, sexy, yearning slice of indie dance that builds to a wonderful percussion sequence. It’s a fitting close to the album, but it’s worth highlighting that this ten track album spawned seven singles. Every song here is a highlight, in its own way, and the band have a unique talent for blending guitars, synths and a tropical approach to drums. The album comes with a clutch of remixes. Stuart Price, who was responsible for this club’s Zoot Woman album, turns in a chunky 80s influenced take on Jump In The Pool. It is blog house darlings Aeroplane, however, that provide the most iconic remix - their nu disco Mediterranean version of Paris is one of those remixes that takes a great original song and mutates it into something just as good, if not better. Aur Revoir Simone (one for another club entry) provide vocals that somehow feel like floating on the surface of the ocean… it is a beautiful imagining of something created by three blokes from St Albans. Not featured here, but equally deserving of praise, are the two songs the group put out on the Photoboth EP. It’s Over Now is another blissed out, sparkly track, and the EP ends with a post punk reimagining of Jamie Principle’s Your Love. If you don’t know the originally, it is generally regarded as the first ever house track, born out of connections forged between Principle and Frankie Knuckles in Chicago’s Warehouse nightclub. Here, the boys turn it into a spiky, desperate interpretation - it’s surprising how successfully the song makes this transition.