Chicago band Friko — vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — share new single, ‘Get Numb To It!’ from their forthcoming debut album, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (out February 16th on ATO Records), and announces new spring US tour dates with Water From Your Eyes and Mind’s Eye. Ahead of those dates, the band will play two Chicago in-stores on the album’s release date at Reckless Records and Shuga Records, The Current’s Winter Dig Out in Minneapolis on February 24th, their record release show at the Metro in Chicago on March 1st, and SXSW.
Another song illuminating the immense depth of their musicality, ‘Get Numb To It!’ emerges as a full-tilt, pogo-ready anthem etched with so many unexpected details. “When we recorded that song Niko and I were each on pianos on opposite sides of the room, just slamming on them for texture,” says Bailey. “There are moments all over the record where we were both improvising at the same time, but they’re mostly used in a very subtle way, without making it the main focal point.”
An essential new addition to Chicago’s long lineage of forward-thinking indie rock, Friko transform every song into a moment of collective catharsis. Formed in 2019, Friko soon began taking the stage at legendary Chicago venues like the Metro, Empty Bottle and Schubas Tavern, self-releasing their acclaimed debut EP Whenever Forever in 2022 and making their festival debut at Bonnaroo the following spring. Known for their high-energy live show, Friko aim to deliver a live experience that’s fantastically disorienting in its emotional arc. Mastered by Heba Kadry (Björk, Big Thief) and engineered by Jack Henry and Scott Tallarida, Where we’ve been, Where we go from here embodies a sonic complexity befitting of a band that names Romantic-era classical music and the more primal edges of art-rock among their inspirations. Friko hope that their music’s emotional potency might have a galvanising impact on audiences.
1. Where We’ve Been
2. Crimson to Chrome
3. Crashing Through
4. For Ella
5. Chemical
6. Statues
7. Until I’m With You Again
8. Get Numb To It!
9. Cardinal
Photo credit – Pooneh Ghana