大象传媒

Instrumental bands in Ireland are very much in vogue at the minute, if the sheer volume of them is anything to go by - so much so that you'd be forgiven for thinking that there was some sort of musical cleansing against singers going on. All of this combines to make it increasingly difficult for any such band to stand out, particularly when you've got the likes of And So I Watch You From Afar and Adebisi Shank looming over you.

This is a bit of a problem for Dublin band Friend? They do their instrumental, post-rock thing, with some strings and slight electro stylings on the side well enough, but is that really enough to make them stand out in a tiny country already drowning in singer-less bands?

Yes and no, really. They do offer something different with the strings and the slightly more introspective depth which that affords them at times, but it never goes quite far enough to push them - or us - over the edge. They have something that draws you in, but it isn't enough to make you stay with them for all that long.

Which is a shame, because they absolutely have potential. They're tight, they have energy, and they have the odd moment that can lift you up, but it's just not quite enough to really convince or captivate. The various elements that exist within their music remain a little bit too disparate at times, not coming together as symphonically as they perhaps ought, leaving the feeling that there's just something missing.

Friend? Are a band who definitely have a lot to offer, and whilst the crowd may not be having their lives changed to the very core, there are no complaints. That Friend? miss the mark just a bit may be a little frustrating, but they aren't all bad by any stretch of the imagination. A passing grade, but can do better.

Orla Graham