Brooklyn, New York, has been a fertile place of late for stylish, arty musical collectives seeking to replicate the city’s past glories by frantically mixing up genres like a hipster cocktail bartender. Friends are the latest, a multi-instrumentalist five-piece who must own the odd Talking Heads record. The frantic, bongo-heavy punk-funk of Home sounds like Eighties popstrel Tiffany fronting ESG, while the galloping disco of Ideas on Ghosts has echoes of Blondie, as does Va Fan Gör Du, with its blend of hip-hop beats and street vibes. The results are not always so appealing. The breezy A Thing Like This is totally lightweight.
(Lucky Number; out Mon)