As a die-hard fan of the art of percussion, running into British band Friendly Fires was simply a matter of time. With that said, Friendly Fire’s Pala seems to be very focused on the drums’ acoustics and effects. Friendly Fire’s fans are large in number, but the band is relatively not well known. Hopefully, this spotlight will provide more insight as to why Friendly Fire deserves more hype.      
Pala is so unique a work that it makes the paradoxical phrase “so different, yet so similar” true in regards to their album. Specifically speaking, Friendly Fires, takes the same sound and melody while fluctuating the speed of the beat for different tracks. Pala does not fail to maintain an animated atmosphere through each track. The first song, “Live Those Days Tonight”, reveals a drum track that contains a duality that brings out its greatness with its interesting snare-rolls and patterns. “Running Away” has a style similar to that of Passion Pit’s not only because of Ed Macfarlane’s falsetto, but also because of the chime-like sounds.
Listeners might be tired of listening to Pala after a while if they are not used to hard-hitting songs. In addition, the vocals may sound a bit out of place and obnoxious. Regardless, Friendly Fires is a great band to listen to while in the car, or if you just want to listen to something with great bass.
What attracted me the most was the fact that the vocalist sounds similar to Yannis Philippakis’s, who many may know as the vocalist for the band Foals. Listening to Pala was like taking a breath of fresh air, thanks to its innovativeness. If you have not heard about Friendly Fires, now is the time to crank up your subwoofers and give them a chance.

(4 stars out of 5)