Friday Project come of age on a searing debut album, "Nine Lives"
Friday Project may only be 17, but Nine Lives has immediately landed with the confidence of a band that feels like they’ve doing this forever. What began as a collection of songs crafted when the trio was just 15 has evolved into a debut album that signals the arrival of a real force in modern rock. This isn’t a “promising first effort”, it’s legitimately a fully formed statement from a band leaping past expectations and straight into their own lane.
Recorded under Geoff Hlibka in the Great Room of Jack Galloway’s house, Nine Lives feels intimate without ever losing that edge and fully alive with the electricity of a young band discovering just how powerful they can be. The Oakville trio of Galloway, drummer Aidan Girardo, and bassist Noah King made sure to fuse all their influences like indie, punk, and grunge rock into something that never feels derivative either. You can surely hear the fingerprints of Blink-182 or Nirvana are there, but only as launching pads. Friday Project approach rock not as a single genre but as a palette, pulling tones, textures, and attitudes from all over the spectrum. One moment you’re jamming out “Something, Anything” and the other you’re more in a slightly relaxed zone like on “Mockingbird”!
The result is an album that moves effortlessly between moods. Some tracks glide with breezy indie rock looseness and others crash in with much heavier edges. It’s those edgy riffs and rhythms that different from song to song. The emotional range is just as wide with moments of vulnerability, bursts of teen-angst, and flashes that feel like they’re punching above their weight.
Without a doubt, Galloway’s vocals anchor the record with a real emotion to them. There’s a bite in his delivery, but also layers of passion that reveal a songwriter already comfortable letting raw nerves sit on the surface. King and Girardo round out the sound with tight, instinctive chemistry. Some basslines that glide and punch and drums that shape each song’s emotional temperature with precision beyond their years.
So many young bands spend their early years trying to figure out what they’re supposed to sound like. We feel confident that Friday Project already knows what they’re about. Their production choices are bold and we can imagine that their performances are as upbeat and vibrant as the songs suggest. They sound like a group that has something meaningful to say and when you look past the killer instrumentals, the lyricism is essentially poetic. A standout on that front was 100% the closer “You’re All I Need”.
Nine Lives is the sound of three teenagers playing like seasoned pros, pushing themselves, experimenting without fear, and capturing the fire of adolescence. It’s a debut that doesn’t just hint at a bright future, it proves these guys are already living it.
We can’t wait to ride the wave into the future, but for now, we’ll always have this debut that’s crushed it in all regards. Go ahead and click those links below to listen in, follow along, and of course to stay tuned for the latest.
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