BLACK VINYL In the process of burgeoning Chicago duo Friko (singer/songwriter/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger) playing out in support of their electric debut LP -- including a 2025 tour with the Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse -- they added guitarist Korgan Robb and bassist David Fuller to their official lineup. This four-piece version of Friko then headed to Los Angeles to record their sophomore album with Grammy-winning producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Sleater-Kinney, Mogwai). While the band had been very hands-on in all aspects of preparing their debut, including co-producing, Congleton asked the now road-tested Friko to just "do their thing" and let him do the rest. The resulting Something Worth Waiting For is, if anything, even rawer and more rattled than a debut that always sounded on the verge of breakdown. The album opens with a bang(er), with "Guess"'s brittle vocals pleading, "Don't make me guess if that's a cry or a laugh" ("Cause there's hardly enough in this world/To make us happy") over loose, amped guitar strums before nearly blowing out speakers in a pounding, desperate, shouted, feedback-injected lament. It's a moment that should put to rest early any fears that Congleton might take any of their edge off. While Something Worth Waiting For's title surely offers an intentional double meaning, its howling, similarly volatile, more driving title track is all about longing for something better to happen ("I wanna see you and me/Waking up, glad to be"). Not every song here is as explosive, though, and Friko instead create high contrasts between tracks rather than within one with the pairing of songs like the hooky and exhilarating, constantly agitated "Choo Choo" ("I wish I took the train today") and the tender, Lewis Carroll-referencing "Alice," whose bell-tone keys, harmonic backing vocals, and restrained yearning offer a cigarette-lighter/phone-flashlight moment. Continuing to offer surprises and catharsis until the very end, Something Worth Waiting For closes on "Dear Bicycle," possibly the best bicycle ode since Queen. If there's a gripe to be had about the record, it's that it isn't longer than nine tracks, although there's something to be said for mirroring the debut in leaving us wanting more. A1 Guess 3:46A2 Still Around 3:24A3 Choo Choo 3:20A4 Alice 4:15A5 Certainly 5:27B1 Hot Air Balloon 5:07B2 Seven Degrees 4:15B3 Something Worth Waiting For 5:54B4 Dear Bicycle 6:10
