{"id":2358131,"date":"2026-04-04T07:49:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T07:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2358131"},"modified":"2026-04-04T07:49:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T07:49:19","slug":"add-to-playlist-the-endlessly-inventive-radiant-indie-rock-of-friko-and-the-weeks-best-new-tracks-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/add-to-playlist-the-endlessly-inventive-radiant-indie-rock-of-friko-and-the-weeks-best-new-tracks-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Add to playlist: the endlessly inventive, radiant indie rock of Friko and the week\u2019s best new tracks | Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\n

From<\/strong> Chicago, Illinois
Recommended if you like<\/strong> Modest Mouse, Wilco, Car Seat Headrest
Up next<\/strong> Second album Something Worth Waiting For out 24 April, touring the US from April and Europe in summer<\/p>\n

In Friko\u2019s hands, a swirl of influences and experiments curve the many colours of indie rock into an endlessly inventive, radiant ramble. The Chicago band\u2019s upcoming, cheekily titled second album, Something Worth Waiting For, explores the energy of yearning: for growth, for change, for stability. Across nine tracks, Friko take inspiration from their recent spate of touring to orbit the idea of finding things worth moving for and the value of the journey itself.<\/p>\n

Single Choo Choo rushes headlong into the joy of riding back to family and home, words flying out of vocalist-guitarist\u2019s Niko Kapetan\u2019s mouth in an eyeball-to-eyeball invocation of fighting stagnancy with a hopeful indie rock melody and a classic American road meal of \u201cchili dogs, Philly steaks, and Pepto\u201d. Kapetan\u2019s quavering vocals sniff out a sense of urgency, like Sparks\u2019 Russell Mael with a yelp worthy of Modest Mouse\u2019s Isaac Brock, while the interplay between his and Korgan Robb\u2019s guitars fuses a Microphones-y burn with glistening atmospherics.<\/p>\n

Since their dynamic debut, 2024\u2019s Where We\u2019ve Been, Where We Go From Here, Friko have now morphed from a duo (Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger) into a four-piece with Robb and touring bassist David Fuller, and enlisted Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (Mannequin Pussy, the Mountain Goats, St Vincent) for this album: the Bowie-esque chamber pop ballad Seven Degrees reflects the expansion of their cohort. That\u2019s Friko\u2019s obvious appeal: even in the mess of uncertainty we\u2019re living through, having your friends around while the world crumbles makes all the difference. As they sing on Choo Choo: \u201cJust come on and get on board \/ Where we goin\u2019 now?\u201d Lior Phillips<\/em><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s best new tracks<\/h2>\n
<\/svg><\/span>Bubbling bog of techno \u2026 Wallis.<\/span> Photograph: Rui Palma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wallis \u2013 <\/strong>B<\/strong>iscuit<\/strong>
<\/strong>The self-described \u201csound design fanatic\u201d stirs up a bubbling bog of techno at its squelchiest and most merciless, her gloopy acidic bubbles bursting against mutant vocal zips and diamond-sharp shudder.<\/p>\n

Beth Orton \u2013 The Ground Above<\/strong>
<\/strong>An epic one-off from Orton, in which her charged voice can barely contain its rage, while her intuitive band \u2013 including Shahzad Ismaily on bass \u2013 brood and fizz, keeping the ship steady.<\/p>\n

Chxrry \u2013 Hall of Fame<\/strong>
<\/strong>\u201cI know I\u2019m too sexy to go home\u201d is an entertaining chorus to sing along to while bobbing around Tesco, though the Toronto pop star\u2019s Addison Rae-worthy fame-worship banger sells the fantasy.<\/p>\n

Darlin\u2019 \u2013 The Differences<\/strong>
<\/strong>From a huge new compilation benefitting the US Immigrant Defense Project, Wendy Eisenberg<\/a>\u2019s trio weave an unusual but utterly disarming tapestry of soft country and open-ended jazz. (Not on Spotify: buy it at Bandcamp<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Jeff Parker ETA IVTet \u2013 Like Swimwear (Part One)<\/strong>
<\/strong>This August 2025 recording kept Parker hopeful when his family was displaced by wildfires: he and drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Anna Butterss and saxophonist Josh Johnson nudge minimalist beginnings into fertile wonder.<\/p>\n

Skrillex and Young Miko \u2013 Duro<\/strong>
<\/strong>The dubstep prince and Puerto Rican rapper get the wheels off in time for the long weekend, her plaintive AutoTuned vocals worming around his retina-menacing laser synths.<\/p>\n

Cass McCombs \u2013 Seeing the Elephant<\/strong>
<\/strong>There\u2019s more than a touch of Jonathan Richman to this wonderfully scruffy, full-pelt garage rocker \u2013 see lyric \u201cI saw the elephant \/ It was so majestephant\u201d \u2013 a far cry from the brimming soul of McCombs\u2019 last LP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Laura Snapes<\/em><\/p>\n

Subscribe to the Guardian\u2019s rolling Add to Playlist selections on Spotify \u2013 or transfer it to Apple<\/a>, Tidal<\/a> or other services<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n