In this newfangled age of social media campaigns and engagement and other such nonsense, my Instagram and TikTok feeds are full of musical faff. However, from time to time, a song so rollicking hits my eyes and ears, and won’t stop until I yell at my phone screen, “All right! All right! I’ll write an article about your song for Start-Track!” And then the people on the train next to me give me funny looks, and my friends all get embarrassed for me.
Anyway, this is the fledgling band FRIEDA STAR from Wolverhampton, and their new single “Micky The Drink”. FRIEDA STAR identify their sound as “Black Country alternative”, naming it after the region in the West Midlands from where they all hail. If you’re listening to Micky The Drink now and wondering, “Gee, they sound quite good, are you sure they’re quite new?”, they’re not. Three out of four members of FRIEDA STAR played for a long while under a different banner before losing the rights to their name and going on a bit of a hiatus. So they have a bit of notoriety and pull in the British music world already, what with outlets such as NME, Rolling Stone, Rough Trade, and now Start-Track covering their work at this early stage of their existence.
FRIEDA STAR has a blistering sound somewhere between Fontaines D.C., Bloc Party, The Strokes, and The Pixies, with the latter being a massive influence on the band’s sound. Vocalist Garran Hickman delivers witty and idiosyncratic lyrics in a yowling voice similar to Black Francis (or maybe IDLES’ Joe Talbot), and the band offers a no-wave wall of sound that doesn’t drown in production, but rather explodes with pure rock and roll energy. Scarlett Churchill’s drumming is like clockwork at any tempo, with her offering vocal punctuation and texture. Jordan Smith on guitar and Xavier Al-naqib on bass create a symphony of strings, shredding in an angular way to which one simply must dance. But regardless of whether you move to their beat or don’t, the quartet’s sound commands you to take notice.
On “Micky The Drink”, Garran sings about the dangers of excess, especially when it comes to spending, drinking, or overworking. It’s dedicated to a local figure from the band’s digs, and overall about putting on a face and serving happiness while struggling deep inside with the pressures of life. If you can’t get through the thick Midlands accent on Garran’s voice, well, that’s your problem: It’s the shameless near-patois that makes this song hit so hard, with Garran almost sounding like another instrument or even a second set of drums as he speak-sings. I promise you, you’ll get wrapped up in this song and its story, forgetting all your worldly worries and singing along with the chorus.
Perhaps you’d like a preview of how you might dance to this song. I advise you to review the music video for “Micky The Drink” below, featuring the band moshing about in a rented stately home. I’ve heard that they’re beginning to play more shows, and while it looks like they’re keeping their gigs somewhat local to their part of the UK for now, one hopes that they might soon cross the pond. Stay tuned for more on Frieda Star; I’m sure they’ll pop back on my platforms soon and cause me to yell about them yet again.
Written by Will Sisskind
