"Sweet live album by this brazilian trio who combine '70s UK thug rock, spacemen 3/vu drones, and their own special style of raunch into an addictively filthy brew"

In the year 2000, Primal Scream changed their name to PRML SCRM when marketing their album XTRMNTR (pronounced "exterminator") on the basis that, according to their singer, "All vowels are fascist, man". The offending letters weren it erased from the album is tracklist or credits, however. And then, guess what? Except for the confusing Live In Japan by PRML SCRM, which for consistency should’ve been titled LV N JPN, every follow-up album has had all vowels intact (...) I mention this because (a) Firefriend is new record is called RCKNRLL and (b) their music has been described as "explicitly anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian rock music". It is a live album, recorded a couple of years ago at the 74Club in Santo André, when a certain populist nutbag was still the Brazilian president. At times, all the feedback and fuzz that emanates from Yury Hermuche’s amplifier appears to be in control of the guitarist, rather than the other way around, suggesting that Firefriend could be South America is answer to Les Rallizes Dénudés. When it is her turn to sing, bassist Julia Grassetti comes across like a total badass who you wouldn it want to mess with, in the tradition of Kim Gordon or perhaps more recently Ganser is Alicia Gaines. "Yellow Spider" even recalls the post-rock genius of the much-missed Electrelane. The future of Brazil’s underground scene is in good hands. KCK T TH JMS MTHRFCKRS! 

Hailing from São Paulo, Brazil Firefriend is a shoegaze, psychedelic rock band from whose music can melt your mind. They have been feeding listeners a unique and hypnotic brew of rock music since 2006. They make gritty rock with the guitars drowning in effects with krautrock inspired grooves. Rcknrll is a blistering live album that captures their sonic assault in all its glory.

Firefriend‘s music thrives in a live performance setting. The power of the guitars and kaleidoscopic sonic textures hit stronger straight from the source. This three-piece outfit (Yury Hermuche on guitar and vocals, Julia Grassetti on bass, keyboards, and vocals, and Caca Amara on drums) conjures a massive soundscape that transcends their numbers. “Rcknrll,” recorded at The 74 Club in Sto Andre, Brazil 2022, boasts a surprisingly pristine audio quality – a testament to the band’s tight control over their effects and sonic chaos. Rcknrll is the bands newest album released on vinyl in February of 2024 via Cardinal Fuzz (UK) and Little Cloud Records (USA).

The song ‘Avalanche‘ is a highlight from the album with distant vocals, driving rhythms, and wailing guitar lines that dance on a wave of feedback. The drums hit hard with simple lines which change and insert subtle complexities. The driving bass comes through loud and clear with its pulsating tone. The guitar takes plenty of time to rip into instrumental sections. The verses have guitar lines with a strong attacks and repeater delays multiplying each strum into infinity. Every moment has experimental effects expertly harnessed into fluid psychedelia.

Firefriend‘s formula on Rcknrll has fuzzed out guitars, deep bass lines and steady drums propelling the listener into a trance. The drummer Caca Amara is the steady guiding force with a consistent energized momentum. The fuzzed out bass lines, courtesy of Julia Grassetti, create a hypnotic pulse. Tonally the bass has a velvety texture with seared edges. The interaction between the drums and bass compel the audience to move while the guitar blasts out a vortex of sustained notes and effects.

Dual vocalists Yury and Julia add another layer of texture. Julia‘s alto range, reminiscent of Kim Gordon‘s early Sonic Youth, adds a gritty edge, while Yury’s vocals, though less prominent in the mix, complement the overall intensity. Live settings often pose challenges for vocals, but Firefriend manages to keep things cohesive despite the sonic onslaught.

The guitar is a highlight on the album. The playing itself is not technical in the traditional sense. The playing style gives breathing room for the sustained throbbing, gritty, electrically charged performance. the pedal board has delays, reverbs, tremolo, multiple fuzz pedals to interact with the amplifier and guide the players hand. Yury has uncanny ability to layer massive amounts of effects with controlled feedback while never spiraling into swelling high pitched feedback. The guitar unleashes a massive wall of sound that is worth the price of admission.

Rcknrll serves as a retrospective of Firefriend‘s recent work, featuring tracks from their 2017 release all the way to their 2023 studio album. Each song is a living entity, evolving and morphing over time.

In this live performance they played ‘Decreation Facts‘ and ‘Hunt‘ are from the 2023 album Decreation Facts that would not be released until many months later giving the audience a taste of their newest music. ‘Three-Dimensional Sound Glitch‘ is from the 2021 album Dead Icons; ‘Avalanche‘ from the album Avalanche released in 2019; ‘Yellow Spider’ and ‘Surface To Air‘ are lifted from the Yellow Spider album from 2018; ‘Afterhours‘ is from the album Sulfur released 2018, ‘Dreamscapes‘ and ‘The Black Hole‘ are from the 2017 album The Black Hole.

Rcknrll is more than just a live album; it’s a portal into Firefriend‘s world of mind-bending psychedelia. The pristine audio quality, coupled with the band’s electrifying performance, makes you wish you were there. The expertly woven tapestry of old and new tracks creates a cohesive listening experience, showcasing the band’s mastery of atmosphere and sonic exploration. If you’re seeking a hypnotic journey through fuzz, effects, and pulsating rhythms, Rcknrll is a must-listen.

When you listen to the opening tracks of albums, they should take your mind away from the usual mundane crap of everyday life and off to a euphoric place, a utopia of joy and happiness. Dreamscapes does exactly that from the first to the last note, as it is completely unyielding and uncompromising, as it slowly begins to melt your face off. 

 Captured live at the No. 74 in Sao Paulo, which is, in their own words, ‘one of the largest, filthiest and most violent cities in the world, and this is the music we make here’ this is a one way trip to the heart of darkness. Firefriend are Yury Hermuche on guitar and vocals, Julia Grassetti on bass, keyboards and vocals and Caca Ameral on drums, and this live release, Rcknrll, captures the true essence of what the band are all about. 

 The album is a transcendental psychedelic sonic assault on your mind, body and soul, full of strikingly well-crafted songs that address the destructive powers that exist and give hope for the next generation. With songs such as Avalanche and the excellent Yellow Spider, you can feel the primal throbbing rhythm with fuzz layered across the music, almost like a lightning storm of guitar haze and drugged-out wailing. 

 Listen to the start of After Hours as it gives off that avant-garde rock feel that you got from The Velvet Underground, and when combined with the live sound created that night, makes you feel claustrophobic, and gives you the sense that you were present at the venue clapping and nodding in appreciation to these masters at work. 

 Decreation Facts is like an annoying insect flying around your head, but instead of wanting to swot it away, you learn to embrace the madness it’s creating, which is followed up by the fuzzed-out craziness that is Surface To Air. 

 Listening to this, you’ll find yourself immersed in distortion and noise, but also learning to appreciate the physicality of Firefriend’s music. Three-Dimensional Sound Glitch feels like an experimental song that will have you transfixed, it’s all soft and smooth with a range of overlapping textures and tones, great harmonies and stretching the limits of their instruments to new levels. 

 Hunt keeps the energy going, with a succulent bassline from Grassetti that pierces the heart and gives off the intensity this band creates live and it’s all wrapped up with The Black Hole which completes the mind-bending set of psychedelic noise from the Brazilian trio. 

 This is not just another live album, this is a mission statement. So do yourself a favour, turn the music on, the lights low and let yourself go. 

This album documents an absolutely BLISTERINGLY live performance by Firefriend. At points, it’s almost punk rock in its ferocity. Handle with care, because contents are explosive! I really dig all their stuff, but this album is next level. It would have been amazing to have been at this show.

I had the good fortune to catch two live shows by Firefriend at the 2019 Fuzzclub festival in Eindhoven. Both shows were eye-opening sets. The small room at the hot Stroomhuis introduced me to the raw sound that lies somewhere between the Velvets and Sonic Youth. Then, the late 2AM set at the Effenaar solidified them as a band that would have a special place in the hearts of myself and many others who were there for the experience. Rcknrll captures that live sound and spirit perfectly. Recorded in August 2022, the band tears through 9 top tracks. Focusing mainly on heavier tracks here, the trio is in top form with loads of grit and angst, representing some of the despair they experience and witness in their home city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The highlight for me will always be “Surface to Air,” as Julia Grassetti sings, “Save Your soul, I can take you down.” There is something about that line that resonates for me. The sound is quite raw, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. I was hoping for an announcement of a US tour this year, but that might be tough to put together.

If you are a fan of any of their releases, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Pound a few beers and crank this one up to 11. While you’re at it, you can still help out the band and grab a copy of the limited edition book. It’s a quick read but well worth it just for the lyrics.