Samantha Urbani is a hyperactive kitten even before Friend's set at Bowery Ballroom Saturday night, bopping thru the room with her hair in a bob and her arms thrown around anybody who comes within a mile: just watching the lead singer of Friends is tiring, she is a burst of youth and movement and bottled up sexuality, so completely in the moment.
A couple of hours later, Samantha is on stage with her band Friends and not much has changed only the energy is manifested in poly-rhythmic charges, in a line with other pseudo-Brooklynites Tune-Yards, Dirty Projectors and Vampire Weekend only with a greater pop sensibility. With Samantha's high pitched vocals, reliance on nonsense lyrics and faux-disco moves, Friends are major popsters ready to shake off indie and enter the charts.
Opening with a new song before settling in with "Friend Crush", the first song off their first album, Manifest!. There is no waiting for the band to steady themselves, to rev up the engines, they start at the top and for 45 minutes the energy level never ebbs. They don't play a slow song. They don't take a breather. Resting solely on Samantha's enormous charms, Friends let her take us all the way from start to finish, while they bang anything in sight.This isn't disco built it is closest to disco: it is all jangled nerves and sharp edges and contorted triplets.
Friends almost called themselves Perpetual Crush, a better name, but not really accurate: if they pine, they pine for the cold heat of love. Samantha announces bassist Lesley Mann's engagement before she adds that Samantha herself is in an open relationship. As if we didn't know: Friends isn't about being ethically fucked but a stop start herky jerky transitiveness.
On stage you get the full force of the lead singer and it dazzles without dimming for a moment, she controls the audience with ease, dances non stop, steps into MC role and never lets go of the spotlight as she dances with a cool jerk knees together hip shaking wiggle. She pulls a girl from the audience and the girl has "Samantha I'll Give You A Rim Job" written across her arms, "Alright" Samantha giggles
All great fun but meanwhile the band are holding down the rhythm tight, switching instruments at random, and working out multi beats, sometimes all three guys playing skins at the same time. this doesn't save them from Blondie is a band land. For the record, Lesley Hann (bass, percussion, backing vocals), Nikki Shapiro (guitar, keyboards, percussion), Matthew Molnar (keyboards, percussion, bass), Oliver Duncan (drums), are the band in question and right now this minute they are very good live. The last night of a tour and on home territory and two weeks before another which will take them as far away as Australia, they have their current set down pat and so while the thrills are rock star seculists, they are consistent.
The entire set is a model of consistency and that's a problem. It builds nowhere, it leads only back on itself. Friends are the antipathy of a jam band, and they are not a groove though they play only groove band. They are the epitome of a pop group and they have the consistency, the ability, the presence and the essence of a good pop group. But they don't go crazy and it doesn't feel like a great experience. it feels like one point in a musical graph.
Friends set was the essence of professionalism. For all her giggling and sauciness, Samantha's sensibilities are mainstream and pop and if she doesn't break pop she will feel like she hasn't succeeded because what is the point of Friends if not to follow Blondies career path? Really, all they are waiting for is the right TV exec to notice em, stick em on a tween TV show. All they are waiting for is a major label (never has a band needed the push of a major more) to iron out the wrinkles and stick em as the opening act for One Direction or Big Time Rush and Urbani will have reached where she is so obviously going.
I don't know where Friends stand in the Brooklyn arts community but I would be shocked if they don't have some serious detractors , they have taken a major calling card for Brooklyn hipsters, the jag of rhythm from disco, funk, African, and brought it to the mainstream. They have a stunningly competent leader who radiates fun and energy but not excess or danger, and they have a clutch of great pop songs and another handful of deep album cuts and during a set that included "Friend Crush", "Sorry", "Home" and "A Thing Like This" and still didn't peak. Friends are like fucking after a night of coke and shots, they keep on going but they never cum. It leaves you wanting more. There is something incomplete about the set.
It goes back to Samantha's claim to be in an open relationship. Friends are having an open relationship with us, and till they hit the charts, they are holding back a little.
On the other hand, who doesn't like fucking after doing coke and shots all night?
Grade: B+