Best Friends
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Best Friends

Sheffield, England, United Kingdom | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | INDIE

Sheffield, England, United Kingdom | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2014
Band Pop Rock

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Listen: Best Friends – Nosebleeds"

Sheffield’s Best Friends’ comeback track, ‘Happy Anniversary’ reignited our love for spunky, melodic Northern fuzz at the beginning of the month.

The aforementioned tune is to be released as part of a AA-side single on the marvelous Art Is Hard Records, with today’s freshly aired ‘Nosebleeds’ making up the other half. Driving basslines taper into typically natty guitar hooks; building, breaking and recurring over frontman Lewis Sharman’s knotted declaration, ‘If you want it, reach out and take it, reach out and take it, what is rightfully yours’. Is ‘Nosebleeds’ their catchiest, dare we say most refined, work to date? You betcha. - The Line of Best Fit


"The Whiteboard Band Of The Day"

Name : Best Friends

Sound and weather seem to go hand in hand, don’t they?

When raining is pouring out of the sky, A Perfume Genius song is never too far from the top of my playlist. On day’s like today when the sun beats down and the sky is blue, music like that offered from Best Friends shoves PG from his lofty platform. The public awareness of this Sheffield two-piece is not very high at the moment. Knowledge of the duo is confined mostly to those who obsess upon the coming and goings of Bancamp. Make no mistake though, this band have serious potential. In a time where ‘surf’ based music is huge and The Vaccines are riding an ever-swelling wave of mainstream acceptance, Best Friends merge the two together. Their arrangement reminds ever so slightly of The Vaccines, but a far more fuzzed out version. So fuzzed out you can almost feel static in the air when listening to them. That has to be a good thing, no?

The Hills of South Yorkshire are alive with excitement surrounding Best Friends. Okay, that is rather hyperbolic, but they have gotten some rave reviews for the live shows they have played recently. Recording their debut EP in a basement gives them a certain grit that, while unquestionably budgeted, somehow gives the sound a defiant personality. Surf Bitches is a wonderful starting point to get acquainted with Best Friends. While you are at it though, have a listen to the rest of the EP.

http://bestfriendspartyhard.bandcamp.com/

Words And Thoughts Of Paul O’Donnell - The Whiteboard Project


"Best Friends"

As an illustration of just how the internet has changed the turnaround of people’s perception – at the start of the year, it looked as though Bandcamp had arrived to save us all from the hell that MySpace had become, and the nastiness that clicking through billions of top friends in the attempt of stumbling across something alright. Now we’re just approaching summer and the platform is already being snowed under with the weak bands that haunted it’s predecessor, whilst the cool kids keep to soundcloud.

Sheffield fuzzers Best Friends prove there is reason to keep rummaging through the wreckage though, with their debut 4 track EP also making sure that you remember that not all lo-fi surf pop is a write-off. Recorded in a basement, this just manages to keep it’s head above the seas of typical blog fodder, reportedly killing it at their live shows in the hills of South Yorkshire. The wonderfully titled ‘Surf Bitches’ is their best number, like a male fronted early Best Coast effort, though without quite the same worry that they might blow up and start sleeping with Nathan from Wavves. - the pigeon post


"introducing: best friends"

Despite having lived in the UK for over two years now, I’ve never been above London. Combined with the fact that I have absolutely no knowledge of geography of any kind, most especially English geography, I’m going to plead the 5th on whats up with Sheffield. I know it’s in the North, and I also know that I kind of want to totally be best friends with four-piece Best Friends. They’ve just released their first properly recorded EP, which I would grab from their bandcamp for pay what you want, and it’s full of jamming quick hitters played just the way we all like: hard, fast, fuzzy and with plenty of reverb. Surf Bitches is a bewitching little tune — all shiny riffs and ‘oooh-we-ooh’s, plenty of cymbals and savory vocals. In fact, the whole EP is filled with songs that match this tune’s endless hooks and an ability to take what should be familiar territory and make it sound invigorating as all hell. - NU RAVE BRAIN WAVE


"Top 5 Acts to Watch at Tramlines"

Tramlines festival is the perfect opportunity to catch local garage surf-pop band, Best Friends. With a few EPs and singles on the table boasting a number of upbeat, danceable, hook-laden tracks my personal favourite is title track of the band’s second EP – ‘Throwing Up’. It opens with melodic guitars together with fuzzy rhythms, which are soon accompanied by low-fi distorted vocals and you just can’t resist bopping along to the infectious rhythms – sure to be a crowd pleaser. A live performance from this band is definitely one to fit into your Tramlines schedule. - Counterfeit Magazine


"New Music: BEST FRIENDS "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY"/ "NOSEBLEEDS""

So what if Best Friends' grungey surf pop musings are more Sutton On Sea beach than they are Santa Monica? "Happy Anniversary" sounds like the best heatwave to hit Yorkshire since I went there...which is never. Posing as the first track from double AA single "Happy Anniversary/Nosebleeds", it's like a sugar-coated seaside rock, dip-dyed in distorted guitar fidgets and Lewis Sharman's high pitched bellows. I can almost taste the sea salt.

Best Friends are playing on our Noisey Stage at this year's Beacons Festival on Sunday 18th August, 4pm. Oh, also read the interview below where Ed, Lewis and I discuss Hulk Hogan, different time signatures and the prospect of talking to animals. - NOISEY


"'Happy Anniversary' / Nosebleeds' - Best Friends"

Drop your shit. Lock yourself away in solitude for 6.19 minutes, maybe dim some lights- this is it. Are you ready to fall in love? Enter Best Friends with their latest efforts. The Sheffield foursome are set to release the double a side late September on Art Is Hard and it's definitely one not to miss.

Having listened to opening track 'Happy Anniversary' non-stop for two days straight I can confirm, you are in some sort of heaven. As someone strongly opposed to anything remotely alluding towards romance, I guess I ended this song with a change of heart. Opening in a daze of adolescent star-crossed affection with charmingly poetic lyrics and refreshingly steady instrumentals before launching into the band's signature pop-beat riffs and slacker tones. No less loved-up but all the more captivating, 'Happy Anniversary' has now truly hit its stride. The daze of Sharman's charmingly hoarse chants and increasingly beautiful lyrics are really impossible to shake off; the growingly expansive instrumentals captivating you all the more. Track ends. You've fallen, hard.

The magic of the boys' second offering 'Nosebleeds' is ignited from the very opening of the track's dreamily fuzzed-up instrumentals soon brought to perfection with front man Sharman's cries ("if you want it, reach out and take it"). It's like a teen heaven; swirling guitars and spirit freeing calls of sentimental liberation. This track particularly highlights the band's skill to merge pop melodies with grungy, DIY undercurrents to perfection. - Ballyhooblonde


"Best Friends : Nosebleeds"

Best Friends release new double A side single ‘Happy Anniversary / Nosebleeds’ through Art Is Hard Records. Hailing from Sheffield, Best Friends are Lewis Sharman, Tom Roper, Ed Crisp and Jack Collister. 2013 has been an impressive year so far for the band, seeing them go on tour with Swim Deep, an NME Awards Show and sharing stages around the UK with Peace and Skaters. Summer Festival appearances included performances on both the Noisey Liverpool Sound City stage and Beacons stage, along with Dot To Dot festival appearances in Bristol and Manchester. Best Friends perform a special single release show at Tipsy Bar, Dalston on September 26th.


"Happy Anniversary" sounds like the best heatwave to hit Yorkshire since I went there... it's like a sugar-coated seaside rock, dip-dyed in distorted guitar fidgets and Lewis Sharman's high pitched bellows. I can almost taste the sea salt"
Noisey

"All killer no filler, new single 'Happy Anniversary' is a mean, lean pop machine. The opening chords sound like their amps have been thrown into a swimming pool. while the track itself replicates the sound of the slacker generation but with an honest earnest ethos."
Clash

"...The chorus is an absolute joy too, bouncing up and down lethargically like the odd kid out on a bouncy castle who, despite his lethargic whininess is actually having a great time."
DIY - Amazing Tunes


"Best Friends Prepare Happy Anniversary"

Best Friends are set to release new single 'Happy Anniversary' on September 23rd.

If British guitar music really is to drag itself out the gutter, then the North might well lead the way. Sheffield and Leeds are producing a slew of new bands, with the likes of Drenge already making headlines.

A little softer than their garage rock contemporaries, the lilting surf-pop of Sheffield's Best Friends has much in common with the Birmingham scene. There's that pop sensibility, that surreal sense of humour but all bound in the Northern grit fostered by the Steel city.

All killer no filler, new single 'Happy Anniversary' is a mean, lean pop machine. The opening chords sound like their amps have been thrown into a swimming pool, while the track itself replicates the sound of the slacker generation but with an honest, earnest ethos.

Out on September 23rd via the ever intriguing Art Is Hard imprint, you can listen to the track below. - Clash Magazine


"Ramshackle punk gains a new standard-bearer - their new 7 single comes with a comic, too.”"

Best Friends are setting the standard for ramshackle, do-it-yourself acts with the first track from their new AA side, ‘Happy Anniversary’.

While blogs across the world wide web are inundated with cheap copies and tacky throwaways when it comes to bedroom bands, the Sheffield boys’ signature surf rock stands out of the crowd due its (thankfully) high fidelity production values and Lewis Sharman’s naturally charming vocals.

The chorus is an absolute joy too, bouncing up and down lethargically like the odd kid out on a bouncy castle who, despite his lethargic whininess is actually having a great time.

Stream Best Friends’ ‘Happy Anniversary’ below. Pre-order a 7’ (due out on Art Is Hard, 23rd September), which also comes with a comic. How snazzy. - DIY Magazine


Discography

Best Friends / Seize The Chair - Split (Too Pure Singles Club, 2013)

Happy Anniversary / Nosebleeds (Art Is Hard Records, 2013)

Surf Bitches (Too Pure Singles Club, 2012)

Best Friends / Grazes - Split (Art Is Hard Records/ Enjoyment Records) 2012

Throwing Up - EP (Art Is Hard Records, 2011)

Best Friends - EP (Self Released, 2011)



 

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Bio

Emerging from a damp, airless basement rife with decay and broken  equipment Best Friends set about inflicting their warped idea of garage pop on the public, hell bent on taking music back to a time when three minute pop songs  transported you from your miserable maggot existence to a blissful state of nirvana, guitar tones fried your brain and hygiene was a dirty word. 

Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of WWF, a full set of achievements on Mario Kart and several crates of beer, the band have been delving ever since to reach your most primal instincts.

With mind blowing performances at this year's Great Escape & other British Festivals. The new Fat Cat Records addition sees 2015 looking to be very promising.

Band Members