🗣️ A generation-defining rallying cry from the Chicago indie scene that launched Horsegirl and Lifeguard. The story: Since forming in 2019, Friko has been at the center of a fertile Chicago indie-rock scene that’s launched fellow foot soldiers Horsegirl, Lifeguard, and Sharp Pins to national attention. But on their second album, Friko sounds ready to take on the world. From the moment the opening track “Guess” flips the switch from street-busker soliloquy to rocket-launching cacophony, Something Worth Waiting For immediately feels like a generation-defining rallying cry for a cohort that’s been beaten down by a pandemic, chronic economic insecurity, and one geopolitical crisis after another, yet refuses to give in to despair. Influences: Friko is the natural heir to a strain of frazzled yet bedazzled indie rock that runs through Neutral Milk Hotel, Bright Eyes, and early Arcade Fire. Standout tracks: In frontperson Niko Kapetan, the band possesses a raspy-voiced Pied Piper whose bloodshot eyes belie a burning heart that thrusts raggedly glorious insta-anthems like “Still Around” and “Hot Air Balloon” to their ecstatic peaks. But even in the quieter moments, Friko projects an invigorating intensity: “Certainty” is a chamber-pop operetta that will have you reaching for the nearest chandelier to swing from, while “Seven Degrees” is a triumphant saloon sing-along that channels Bowie in his Hunky Dory heyday.