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Consequence’s recurring feature series CoSign highlights a rising artist who has caught our attention with a great new release. On this edition, presented by Lagunitas, we’re embarking on an emotional indie rock journey with Chicago band Friko and their new album, Something Worth Waiting For. (Pick up a vinyl copy here.)
Not that indie rock needed any particular saving, but when Friko dropped their 2024 debut, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, it felt like the kind of project that was destined to breathe new life into the whole “youngins messing around with guitars” thing. The songs were full of memorable refrains, compelling structures, and the kind of production that was just rough enough around the edges to make you feel like you’re right there with them in some unassuming Chicago practice space. All the while, the performances radiated with a bold sincerity, a welcome rejection of whatever level of irony/post-irony we’ve reached in the 2020s. Friko arrived with a realized, distinctive voice, and now, they return with their second outing, the great Something Worth Waiting For, which proves not only that the debut was no fluke, but that a rising profile and shows around the globe have only helped Friko grow even more into their heartfelt selves.
By the end of ’24, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here had landed Friko — originally a duo comprised of frontman Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — on various year end lists. More importantly, though, their blend of influences and vulnerable sensibilities seemed to instantly connect with indie fans just about everywhere. Online music communities excitedly gushed over the record, and soon enough, they were landing support slots for icons of the genre (like Modest Mouse or The Flaming Lips) and playing to sold-out crowds in places like Tokyo.
“It felt like a steady build,” Kapetan tells Consequence, “but finding out that people in Japan knew about us and all that stuff, it was definitely crazy.”
As they toured on the back of that record, guitarist Korgan Robb and bassist David Fuller, who had joined the lineup for live shows even prior to the release Where we’ve been, became permanent fixtures of Friko’s makeup. And while the crew kept themselves more than busy between tour legs and festival appearances, making sure to enjoy the ride along the way, the four musicians couldn’t help but restlessly gestate on the next batch of songs, the first to feature Robb and Fuller’s fingerprints from the ground up.
“Very fortunately, it wasn’t like, ‘Alright, here’s a round of tryouts, and … [now] you gotta help write this,'” Fuller explains. “We did have, in a lot of ways, the luxury of time — the time of getting to know each other and finding yourself in the music. Korgan and I, we just had the insane opportunity to tour in a band that we were fans of, you know? That’s something that people don’t really get to do, and it’s amazing. So, it was definitely a different experience writing the record together, but it felt so natural playing with each other.”
The natural connection shows, as does the confidence that comes along with strengthening intra-band connections and getting a few thousand more tour miles under your belt. Something Worth Waiting For takes the most enthralling elements of the act’s previous work and expands upon them, leaning into the humanistic performances, cathartic hooks, and raw emotions.
“For me, it comes back to loving The Replacements. I mean, the recordings themselves are just some of the most janky recordings,” Kapetan explains.
Minzenberger adds, “Some of my favorite recordings have some things you could call ‘mistakes’ in them.”
“I do think that a rough-around-the-edges recording also leaves a lot more to the imagination,” says Fuller. “Like, I returned to Slanted and Enchanted by Pavement, and if I played that record around my dad, it’d be like, ‘David, this sounds terrible. Why are you listening to this?’ But I love that record so much, and [it makes] you dig and rub off the dirt. It just makes those songs so much more rewarding to listen to. And then you’re like, ‘Oh, there is a pop song under all of this muck!'”
English (US) · 