Your Favorite Enemies maybe something of a new name on this side of the pond but over in their native Canada, the six-piece have managed to hit number 2 on iTunes on the day of release of their previous recording, whilst the band have also shifted 60,000 physical copies of their past releases to date, which is impressive when you think that the band take their musical cues from the likes of Fugazi, Sonic Youth and Mars Volta among others.
The band have already made their first steps in this country with a high profile tour in support of seminal post rock legends ……And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead taking in Glasgow, Manchester and London during their four date stint.
Listening to this ten track affair you can imagine that Your Favorite Enemies may well found favour with the Trail Of Dead crowd, as they combine lo-fi post hardcore, evocative vocals and dense bouts of feedback to create a gloriously wide reaching racket that should appeal to post rockers and abrasive alternative rock fans alike.
The album opens with a short introduction entitled Satsuki Yami, where the band sharpen their instruments, building up to a howling feedback enriched crescendo before unleashing the first track proper, Empire Of Sorrows, a six minute plus epic that mixes spoken-word lyrics with jarring banks of dense instrumentation, punished drums and waves of guitar abuse to create an unsettling yet compelling introduction to the bands sound.
Following on, the band deliver the stunning A View From Within, with a somewhat serrated and swirling, shoegaze inspired guitar sound that could have been lifted straight from the grooves of Loveless (My Bloody Valentine), whilst Alex Foster’s vocals are more of a refrained hush, adding a welcome, melodic side to the cacophony of sound. Where Did We Lose Each Other is different again, featuring an instantly infectious guitar hook, vocal harmonies and a glorious chorus refrain, as the band impress with a fine slice of shimmering alternative rock.
Under A Stretching Skyline proves to be another highlight, the seven minute track opens with the band creating a storm of driven guitars and crashing drums before Alex delivers a vulnerable touching lead vocal whilst keyboard player Miss Isabel adds barely audible whispers peppering the track to create a softer layer, near hidden beneath the waves of glacial guitar work.
The album finishes with the stunning Muets Aux Temps Des Amours, a brooding melodic number with both male and female spoken word vocals, a delicate crooned lead from Alex and restrained shimmering guitar and keyboard work, completing an intriguing and diverse album on a dreamy high.
Between Illness And Migration may well take it’s cues from the likes of Sonic Youth, Fugazi, My Bloody Valentine and perhaps Shellac, but Your Favorite Enemies have very much mastered their own unique and compelling sound straddling the divide of abrasive post punk and glistening shoegaze, a contagious outing from start to finish.
Rhythm & Booze Rating 9
www.yourfavoriteenemies.com