New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Queer DIY punks SUGGESTED FRIENDS are pleased to reveal a homemade video for their latest single 'Turtle Taxi', which is out now, and is the title track from their forthcoming second record. The band are set to release their new album Turtle Taxi on 4th October 2019 via Fika Recordings, with the record available to preorder now.
Commenting on the new single, guitarist and vocalist Faith Taylor said: "This song is about enjoying the ways that time stretches out when you've allowed yourself to be in nourishing relationships. It's a celebration of rest and healing, and how a supportive and mutual bond can help to dismantle the urge to be constantly productive. Plus it's a little bit about collecting jars and liking dogs. The song's refrain—"I'll be your honest turtle taxi"—is a reference to a ridiculous game I play in swimming pools with my partner. It's all about finding that space for recreation and play as an adult, basically."
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Friends are also pleased to reveal a run of UK headline tour dates for November 2019, with tickets on sale now (see below for full listings). The quartet recently announced that they will be supporting Camp Cope on 26th
September in Nottingham alongside Witching Waves, appear at Nottingham Pop All-Dayer 2019 and Weenfest 2019, and will be playing a special album launch show at The Shacklewell Arms, London on 9th October 2019.
The album's lead single 'Cygnets' went down a storm last month with fans old and new, scoring coverage from magazines and blogs including UPSET, Vulture Hound, Austin Town Hall, When The Horn Blows, Balloon Machine and more.
The band have previously received a surge of early praise from the blogosphere including GoldFlakePaint, Too Many Blogs, The Grey Estates, For The Rabbits, Get In Her Ears, Loud Women, GigSlutz, and Spectral Nights, alongside early radio support from BBC Wales.
Turtle Taxi is released 4th October 2019 on Fika Recordings
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Friends live:
26.09.19 - Nottingham - Metronome (w/ Camp Cope)
09.10.19 - London - The Shacklewell Arms (album launch show)
12.10.19 - Nottingham - The Old Cold Store (2019 Nottingham Pop All-Dayer)
25.10.19 - London - DIY Space For London (Weenfest 2019)
09.11.19 - Bristol - The Exchange
10.11.19 - Cardiff - The Moon
11.11.19 - Oxford - The Library
12.11.19 - Sheffield - Cafe Totem
13.11.19 - Leeds - CHUNK
14.11.19 - Liverpool - Craft Taproom
15.11.19 - Bradford - 1in12 Club
16.11.19 - Edinburgh - Brig Below
17.11.19 - Glasgow - Glad Cafe
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Friends are:
Faith Taylor - guitar and vocals (she)
Emma Kupa - bass (she)
Christabel Williams - drums (she)
Jack McGinn - guitar (he)
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Friends online:
https://www.facebook.com/suggestedfriends
https://twitter.com/suggestedfronds
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Friends are an indie rock quartet with a firm grounding in queer identity, fusing DIY punk roots with the interweaving guitars of 90s indie and a sometimes tongue-in-cheek take on the performative masculinity of 80s rock. There's a tenderness to their songwriting, with lyrics reflecting on cultural malaise, trauma recovery and the banal absurdity of everyday life. Personal politics can come with an incisively dry sense of humour too.
Turtle Taxi is their second album and demonstrates just how far they've come from the raw, scuzzy sounds of their DIY debut; unrepentant in letting the pop hooks loose. The choruses are big, harmonies frequent, and guitar solos abound—this is a lush, textured leap forward.
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Friends are more confident, acknowledging emotional pain and exploring how this affective space elides with a more expansive sense of injustice in the world.
On 'Pretty Soon Your Grave Will Be A Landfill' the earnestness and absurdity of gaslighting politicians is laid bare, through to the futility of naming social ills and not acting on them on 'At Ease'. The album's title track, 'Turtle Taxi', talks about the relationship between love as a labour and the focusing-in on life as an opportunity for that to flourish in all directions—('teach 'til I die, let this all pass by…').
The quieter numbers on the record, such as 'At Ease' or 'Blooms', recall folkier inspiration such as The Weather Station and Hiss Golden Messenger, through to the alt-pop oddness of Nilufer Yanya and Blood Orange. But for parallels as a socially conscious, high-energy and vulnerable punk pop band, think Martha or Charly Bliss—though they'd argue for that perfect sweet spot between
Weezer and Abba!
Recorded in rural Norfolk over two separate sessions a year apart, the album was able to flourish into a more collaborative effort—incorporating Faith's wife Meghan on percussion and Sickroom Studio's Owen on trumpet—plus plenty of time to experiment with overdubs and piano flourishes to up that classic-rock vibe that simmers just under the surface.
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Friends formed in late 2015 following a chance meeting at a gig between Christabel (drums) and Faith (guitar and vocals). They were soon joined by Jack on guitar, who had met Faith through an activist group in London. Mammoth Penguins' Emma Kupa is the most recent addition on bass, having worked with Faith on a number of projects over the past four years.
