The sophomore album question for Friko was never whether they could do it — their debut proved they had the chops — but whether they'd know what to do with more room. Something Worth Waiting For answers that question emphatically. The Chicago band's second record, produced by John Congleton, is bigger in every dimension: bigger sound, bigger arrangements, bigger ambition. And it works.
Where We've Been, Where We Go From Here was an album of contained, precise indie rock — Niko Kapetan and Bailey Minzenberger playing to their strengths, not overreaching. The debut's restraint was part of its appeal. Something Worth Waiting For is a different proposition. Adding Korgan Robb on guitar and David Fuller on bass transforms the band's dynamic, giving Kapetan room to be more than the guitarist-and-lead-voice, letting the songs breathe and move.
'Seven Degrees,' the lead single, opens with a guitar figure that sounds vaguely like a broken carousel, then builds into one of the best choruses Friko has written. 'Still Around' is the album's emotional center — a slow-building song about persistence and impermanence that finds the right balance between Congleton's textural production and Kapetan's direct writing. 'Alice' is a brief, almost fragile interlude that the album uses well.
Congleton brings his characteristic gift for making guitars sound alive without making albums sound muddy. The production is warm and specific — you can hear the room on the drum recordings, the slight roughness on the guitar strings. This is an album made by humans in a physical space, and the record communicates that without making a big deal of it.
Not everything here matches the debut's most concentrated moments — 'Dear Bicycle' closes the album on a slightly minor note — but Something Worth Waiting For is precisely the album Friko needed to make: proof that their debut wasn't a fluke, and that they know exactly where they're going. Grade: A-.