Foundation
Your Favorite Friend is a folk band from the Northwest. It’s pretty straightforward at its core and that sums up the band to a tee. While the band surely plays on its simplicity in order to push their sound forward, they shouldn’t necessarily be lumped in as an act not worth the time. With their debut EP released this year, ”99” marks their first steps into the scene by delivering a straight forward folk record that will as well allow plenty of room to grow from.
Simple but effective
The EP Your Favorite Friend released is a short piece spawning 4 tracks, each comprising of a typical folk setup including guitars, drums, and mandolins, mixed with harmonized male and female vocals. The EP is a very traditional bluegrass country affair, placing emphasis on its melodic pillars and tight knit performances. The EP not only emphasizes these aspects well but they at their core create what is to be a very feel good country record that is matched with clean crisp production.
The feeling that is ultimately delivered by the end of this EP is nothing more but pure pleasantness. The mandolins alone carry the tracks soothingly while the performances elevate the songwriting as well. While there is little doubt that this won’t be for everyone out there, it’s solid enough to get its point across, allow the band to grow henceforth from its basic foundation, and deliver something that will make listeners feel quite comfortable.
That said, one of the flaws of the record rests within its lyrics. Opening track ‘Trees’, for example, falls a tad short from its presence through its forced delivery. As well, a crisp production that can certainly appeal to a fair amount of listeners, can sometimes feel out of place comparatively to the songs themselves, who in some cases almost ask for more body and presence holistically, and in a sense, greater life.
Short & Sweet
Ultimately, Your Favorite Friend’s debut EP “99” not only helps diversify the pool of music located in the Northwest region, but helps deliver what is essentially a solid starting point for their subsequent discography. Any fan of bluegrass/country should be able to appreciate this release as its short and sweet nature can certainly sweep off anyone who is already attracted to that kind of music.
