Weakened Friends
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Weakened Friends

Boston, MA | Established. Jan 01, 2015 | INDIE

Boston, MA | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2015
Band Rock Indie

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

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"Le Sigh"

“Recently, Leslie pointed out that sometimes when I date someone I kind of adopt that person’s personality,” Parks and Recreation’s Ann Perkins says in a season five episode of the show. The parks department is holding a garage sale and as the camera pans out, we see Ann is standing among several boxes adorned with her exes’ names on them. “The evidence is fairly damming,” she concludes. The clip is a good sight gag, but it also gets at a deeper truth about relationships: over time, a couple becomes a unit. As a result, a breakup can often feel like a journey of self-discovery. On “Crshd,” the title track of Weakened Friends’ latest EP, singer Sonia Sturino explores this feeling of separation-induced loneliness. With her vocals fed through plenty of distortion, Sonia repeats, “I don’t want to be me if I can’t have you,” over and over during the song’s bridge. When someone who was once your rock is now a pebble in your shoe, disappearing can feel like the easiest solution.

CRUSHED is preoccupied with the often unspoken intricacies of breakups, from wanting to be over an ex but not feeling ready yet (“95”) to wanting your ex to be over you (“Blankets”). On the chorus of “95,” Sturino, who wrote all of the songs, sings, “Everything’s just fine / Just give me a little time.” The line purposely contradicts itself; everything is not fine because time is needed to mend a broken heart. Weakened Friends, which, in addition to Sonia’s role as vocalist and guitarist, also features Annie Hoffman on bass and Cam Jones on drums, plays fuzzy ‘90s inspired pop-punk. The band’s choruses are as big as their hearts and singing along seems less like an option and more of a primordial urge. Case in point comes via the EP's standout “She’s So Cool,” which sounds like it could be a Foil Deer B-side cruelly cut from the album. It also features a killer guitar solo in addition to its taunting chorus of “Stay away from me.” Try as you might, you won’t be able to stay away from these songs. Their hooks will sink deeper with each listen, but, whatever you do, resist the urge to text your ex. - Le Sigh


"Breakthru Radio"

Weakened Friends is a heart-on-the-sleeve indie rock band from New England. Comprised of Sonia Sturino and Cam Jones (both formerly of The Box Tiger), along with Annie Hoffman (of The Field Effect), this trio of fairly tall humans plays with a burning passion that’s hard to fake. This project seems a little more straightforward than The Box Tiger’s caterwaul in a pop-punk sort of way, and -- if it’s possible -- considerably more vicious. The band took a minute out of their busy regional tour schedule (which seems to include dominating Boston and Portland, Maine - with serious progress being made in NYC as well) to drop by Serious Business Music in DUMBO to give us a live taste of what they’ve got coming up. - BTR Today


"Bullet Magazine"

“I realize more and more that people allow themselves to be disrespected in relationships and knowingly settle for less than they deserve. And I think that’s a sad thing,” Sonia Sturino says of “Main Bitch”, the latest video from Weakened Friends.

Being a “main bitch” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, the frontwoman of the Boston/Portland three piece says.

“A lot of people in general like to refer to women as bitches and that’s not really ok. Everyone, men and women, deserve to be empowered and respected in the relationships they choose to have. I feel like that’s a notion that kind of gets lost amongst young people today, and something I’ve fallen into, myself.”

The video plays off of that idea of our inability see things as they are. Set in a boisterous house party, the bouncing power-pop fun of the track is offset against the guests’ being blindfolded.

“Really the video sort of reflects that where it’s a party, an ultimately ‘fun’ place, but everyone is blindfolded. Sometimes we blindly buy into what society deems as a fun time when it might not be true to our own hearts. Being honest with yourself is the most important thing.”

“‘Main Bitch’ is near perfect, in my opinion,” says Jim Gilbert, the video’s director adds. “It’s two minutes long and I swear the song is all chorus. Initially, I over-thought the treatment and the ideas of self-identity, but came back to earth very quickly. We shot in the pop spirit of the song and used the story for momentum. I think the best aspect of the video is the energy of the band and their friends that were extras. Everyone was having as much fun as possible while I was telling them what to do every three minutes. They were drinking and blindfolded all night.”

“Main Bitch” is from Weakened Friends’ debut EP Gloomy Tunes, and will appear on their new 12″ follow up Crushed, which you can grab here.

Catch them on the rest of their tour:

05.18.16- Metropolitain Lounge – Annapolis MD
05.19.16 – Liveburghstudio (house show) – Pittsburgh PA
05.20.16 – Mantua Yacht Club (house show) – Philadelphia PA
05.21.16 – All Roads Music Festival 2016 – Belfast ME
05.22.16 – Great Scott – Allston MA
05.26.16 – Ralphs – Worcester MA
05.27.16 – World Citizen Party House – Albany NY
05.29.16 – The Sportsman Tavern – Buffalo NY - Bullet Magazine


"Maine Today"

I first got hip to Sonia Sturino a few years back, when I heard her band, The Box Tiger, and, in particular, the dazzling song “Set Fire To Your Friends.”

Sturino started the band in 2009 with bassist Ben Tran, drummer Marcus Cipparone and guitarist Jordan Stowell. At the time, everyone but Stowell lived in Toronto. In 2013, The Box Tiger released “Set Fire,” one of my favorite records of that year with Sturino’s siren-like vocals and the album’s searing alternative rock sensibilities.

Fast forward to now. The Box Tiger is no longer and Sturino’s new band is Weakened Friends, based in Portland. They’re the trio of Sturino (vocals/guitar), Annie Hoffman (bass/backing vocals) and Cam Jones (drums).

Several months ago, I was at Portland House of Music for a Bissell Brothers event with another local band I’m fixated on called OHX. I faded before OHX came on, but I was there to catch Weakened Friends’ set and was floored by it.

They’re absolutely electrifying, and I frankly couldn’t get enough. Sturino’s got a siren-like voice and whales on her guitar with aplomb. Hoffman’s backing vocals are fantastic, as is her bass, and Jones is a masterful rock drummer.

So as you can imagine, I was pleased as punch to get wind of their new EP, “Crushed.” The six songs clock in just under 19 minutes and every song completely rocks. This is actually their second EP; the first one, “Gloomy Tunes,” dropped last year, and the four songs on it are also spectacular.

When I listen to Weakened Friends, I’m gripped by a desire to, I don’t know, race around the streets of Portland on roller skates equipped with jet packs, waving to everyone with the band blasting in my ears.

Take “95,” for example. That song owned me within one nanosecond. It was like getting electrocuted.

Take a listen and rock out with me! - Maine Today


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy