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Official Band Bio:
Strip it down. Cut the fat. Verse chorus verse. No bridge? No problem.
That’s it: the simplistic formula behind Friendly Foes – a pop-inspired three-piece hailing just outside of Detroit. But hold up…just because they choose the most economic way to get to power-pop’s Pleasure Island, it doesn’t mean their songs don’t come without a hefty wallop, a fierce bite, and a few twists and turns to keep you on your toes. In Friendly Foes’ world, simple does not equate with boring.
Inspired as equally by 70s punk-songwriters like Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello as they are the glory days of 90s indie rock (Superchunk, Guided By Voices, Chisel) – with a healthy dose of Husker Du and Replacements-style bash ‘n pop thrown in for good measure – Friendly Foes craft rag-tag, rough around the edges rock songs that do away with pretense. Instead, they choose quick routes to get to the gooey guts of what makes for rock-solid jams: whip-smart lyrics and anthemic melodies delivered at an unrelenting pace.
Their first full-length, “Born Radical†(released on Gangplank Records), delivers the Foes’ compact message in spades. Bursting with 13 dynamic songs, the album boasts lyrics that range from nostalgic looks at life before MySpace and Mp3s, to raging diatribes on rock and roll’s currents state of affairs. Guitars slash and burn, the bass rumbles like a heard of stampeding elephants, and drums crash and bang with precise abandon. And it all comes from three distinct players who are harly indie rock rookies – Ryan Allen also sings and plays guitar in Thunderbirds are Now!, bassist Liz Wittman is one third of Kiddo, and drummer Brad Elliott did time in the Satin Peaches, amongst others.
In March 2009, Elliott left the band to pursue other projects. The drum seat has since been taken over by Sean Sommer (formally of Tides, currently drumming in Allan James and the Cold Wave). The band are currently working on new songs for an upcoming EP, with plans to record another full length album before the end of the world.
Friendly Foes have shared the stage with an impressive list of bands, including Sloan, the Walkmen, Electric Six, the Whigs, Locksley, Hymns, the Jealous Girlfriends, Fastball, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Royal Bangs, Born Ruffians, School of Language, Ladyhawk, Sebastien Grainger and the Mountains, King Khan and BBQ Show, Women, the Dirtbombs, Anathallo, Dosh, Cadence Weapon, Margot and the Nuclear So and So's, Most Serene Republic, Rose Hill Drive, the Golden Dogs, and loads more.
what folks are saying 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
"To be honest, I haven't been able to get entirely into Friendly Foes just yet." - Aaron Quillen
Watch "Couch Surfing" from the "Born Radical" CD Release Show:
