Something Worth Waiting For by Friko

Friko is a band from Chicago, IL that started in 2019 by Niko Kapetan, Luke Stamos and Bailey Minzenberger – all graduates of Evanston Township High School. Two EPs followed, one in 2020 and one in 2022.

Friko’s debut album Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, was in my top 50 favorite albums for 2024. Looking back, I think I penalized it a bit too much for coming out early in the year. I was a big fan of it for the first half of the year, but then recency bias took over and it fell down the list.

Something Worth Waiting For is their sophomore album, recorded and produced by John Congleton. Drummer Bailey Minzenberger stated:

“On our first record we were much more involved in the technical aspect of everything, but this time John made it clear that he wanted us to just come in and do our thing. I think that allowed us to let go in a way that we never had before, and because of that we captured something very raw.”

The album builds off all of the influences listed above, as well as others like The Beatles, Mitski, The Beach Boys, Modest Mouse, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The new songs tend to feel more raw and chaotic, but also more confident – both in song writing and execution. I’m a huge fan… and won’t be making the same mistake I made in 2024.