Friko Announces Debut Album Expanded Edition & 2025 Headline Tour
Chicago’s Friko — led by vocalist/guitarist Niko Kapetan and drummer Bailey Minzenberger — announces an expanded edition of Where we’ve been, Where we go from here, out November 22nd on ATO Records, alongside a massive 2025 North American headlining tour. The album’s initial release earlier this year was met with glowing praise from publications and fans alike, catapulting Friko into the international spotlight. The 2XLP vinyl and digital release expands upon the “chamber-pop tapestries” and “oily post-punk” (Pitchfork) of the band’s debut, featuring demos from the Where we’ve been, Where we go from here sessions, eleven bonus tracks including today’s new single, “If I Am,” live tracks from a sold-out hometown Metro show, and a cover of My Bloody Valentine’s “When You Sleep.”
“‘If I Am,’ along with the rest of the other new songs on this expanded edition, go back as far as 2019,” Friko explains. “They were some of the first songs we played at DIY and small club shows in Chicago. They kind of got left behind after we had written the songs for the record but we’re so glad they’re getting to see the light of day because they were some of the first songs we wrote as a band.”
This summer, Friko made festival debuts at Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival, and Fuji Rock, and toured with Royel Otis, Water From Your Eyes, WILLIS, and Mind’s Eye. Next week, they’ll embark on their first European headline tour, during which they’ll appear at Pitchfork Festival London. Today’s newly-announced dates see the band returning to New York City, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and more, while headlining many cities for the first time. Known for their high-energy live show, Friko aims to deliver a live experience that’s fantastically disorienting in its emotional arc, so this will be a tour not to miss. Tickets are on sale this Friday at 10am local time.
Pre-Order Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (Expanded Edition)
Watch “Where We’ve Been” Video
Watch “Crashing Through” Video
Watch “For Ella” Video
Watch “Crimson to Chrome” Lyric Video
Listen to “Get Numb To It!”
Listen to “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” (Radiohead Cover)
Where we’ve been, Where we go from here (Expanded Edition) Tracklist:
1. Where We’ve Been
2. Crimson to Chrome
3. Crashing Through
4. For Ella
5. Chemical
6. Statues
7. Until I’m With You Again
8. Get Numb To It!
9. Cardinal
10. I Could
11. If I Am
12. Love You Lightly
13. Pride Trials
14. Sliip Away
15. Where We’ve Been (Live In Chicago at Metro 3/1/24)
16. Statues (Live In Chicago at Metro 3/1/24)
17. Cardinal (Live In Chicago at Metro 3/1/24)
18. Get Numb To It! (Demo Version)
19. Repeat Yourself (Demo Version)
20. When You Sleep
Friko Tour Dates:
Sat. Nov. 2 – Amsterdam, NL @ Bitterzoet
Sun. Nov. 3 – Brussels, BE @ Les Nuits Weekender
Tue. Nov. 5 – Rennes, FR @ L’Antipode
Thu. Nov. 7 – Paris, FR @ Pitchfork Avant Garde
Fri. Nov. 8 – Brighton, UK @ Mutations Festival
Sat. Nov. 9 – London, UK @ Pitchfork Festival London
Sun. Nov. 10 – Bristol, UK @ Louisiana
Tue. Nov. 12 – Manchester, UK @ YES
Wed. Nov. 13 – Glasgow, UK @ King Tuts
Thu. Nov. 14 – Dublin, IR @ Workman’s Club
Sat. Nov. 16 – Weissenhäuser Strand, DE @ Rolling Stone Weekender
Tue. Nov. 19 – Osaka, JP @ Umeda Club Quattro
Thu. Nov. 21 – Tokyo, JP @ Tokyo Kanda Square Hall
Fri. Dec. 27 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Tue. Feb. 25 – St. Louis, MO @ Atomic
Wed. Feb. 26 – Louisville, KY @ Zanzabar
Thu. Feb. 27 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East
Fri. Feb. 28 – Atlanta, GA @ Smith’s Olde Bar
Sat. March 1 – Raleigh, NC @ Kings
Mon. March 3 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Tue. March 4 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry
Fri. March 7 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sat. March 8 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
Mon. March 10 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz
Tue. March 11 – Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
Thu. March 13 – Ferndale, MI @ The Loving Touch
Fri. March 14 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
Sat. March 15 – Indianapolis, IN @ Turntable
Wed. April 30 – Boise, ID @ Neurolux
Fri. May 2 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl
Sat. May 3 – Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
Sun. May 4 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Wed. May 7 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
Fri. May 9 – Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room HLP
Sat. May 10 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
Wed. May 14 – Las Vegas, NV @ Swan Dive
Sun. May 18 – Denver, CO @ Marquis
Tue. May 20 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge
Wed. May 21 – Des Moines, IA @ xBk
Thu. May 22 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line
Praise for Friko’s Where we’ve been, Where we go from here:
“[Friko’s] passion is combustible… That’s the power of a great
rock crescendo.” — Vulture, The Best Songs of 2024 (So Far)
“One of my new favorite bands.”
— NPR Music’s Stephen Thompson, Running List of the Year’s Best Songs
“An emotionally potent epic, ‘Where We’ve Been’ marks Friko as one of the most compelling up-and-coming rock bands, two brilliant friends whose talents explode at every seam.”
— Paste, #1 in The 50 Best Songs of 2024 So Far
“[Friko] aspires to the musical grandiosity and emotional maximalism of aughts-era indie.”
— Uproxx, Steven Hyden’s Favorite Albums of 2024 So Far
“Where we’ve been, Where we go from here isn’t just a throwback. It carries the spirit forward, reaffirming that indie rock, as a style and ethos, can still feel like the most exciting thing a young person could be into.” — Pitchfork
“Friko are proudly reviving the emo-adjacent sound of the aughts.” — Rolling Stone
“Friko have struck a tone that’s all their own. With songwriting chops to back up the heightened emotions of the record, Friko have successfully come through with a debut that’s much more than the sum of their influences.” — Consequence
“[Where we’ve been, Where we go from here] places them in a lineage of great indie- and alt-rock acts like Radiohead, Arcade Fire, and Bright Eyes—bands with prominent weird streaks, arena-sized potential, and the chops to build a bridge between the two.” — SPIN
“[Friko is] one of Chicago’s best new artists in years.” — WBEZ
“Kapetan’s clear emotional commitment to Friko’s music makes the band’s scrappy, homemade aesthetic feel as grand as a symphony.” — Chicago Reader
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