CMJ's Hottest Bands: 10 Buzz-Worthy Breakouts

Friendly Fires

Mix disco-funk beats with industrial guitar noise and emo lyrics about shacking up with a loved one in a Paris apartment and you've got British four-piece Friendly Fires. At their first of five gigs at Williamsburg Music Hall on October 20th, the band delivered note-perfect versions of cuts from their excellent self-titled debut. That precision was mostly due to the fact that their robo grooves and synthesizer fills came courtesy of drum machines and pre-recorded loops. But there was some spontaneity: singer Ed Macfarlane hopped into the crowd to sing mid-set and occasionally picked up a drumstick to hammer away at a set of cymbals, and guitarist Edd Gibson played a dust buster through his guitar pickups to create what sounded like a kazoo funneled through a distortion pedal. Best part: Watching Macfarlane awkwardly twitch and spazz around the stage like David Byrne circa that "Once in a Lifetime" video.
KEVIN O'DONNELL

Listen Here: "Jump in the Pool"