In an era when zealous music blogs compete to be the first to unearth potential new stars, the spotlight often seems to fall on young musicians who’ve done little more than strum a few simple guitar chords in their bedroom and upload the recordings to Bandcamp or Soundcloud. Take Brooklyn band Friends. Having not yet put out a release longer than a single, the five-piece has still garnered much positive attention from seemingly every online music resource, as well as mainstream press exposure from The New York Times and The Guardian among others. The group was even named one of NME’s Top 50 Artists of 2011, was nominated for BBC’s “Sound of 2012” poll, and placed 4th on The Deli’s Best NYC emerging Artists of 2011 Poll. Having captured the imagination of critics and fans despite a limited output, Friends have actually moved beyond the whispers of being an Internet buzz band to one riding a huge wave of excitement and positivity. – Read Dean Van Nguyen’s full feature on the band here.
