Artsy alt-country outfit Friendship (who get their name from Friendship, Maine) have signed to Merge Records for their next full-length due later in 2022. The Philadelphia group fronted by occasional solo artist and MFA poetry candidate Dan Wriggins will join Indigo De Souza on a spring tour with a Philly stop at Union Transfer on May 2nd. Today, the band shared single “Ugly Little Victory” to kickstart an exciting year.
With the lyrical acuity and scratchy, low-pitched drawl of David Berman plus an atmospheric, indie backing reminiscent of Hovvdy, Friendship is a Philly band to watch this year. Their last two records, 2017’s Shock Out of Season and 2019’s Dreamin’, were released by charming DIY Chicago label Orindal; and while the band and their former label were well-matched, Wriggins is excited about the new signing. In a press statement he said, “If there’s a label that does it better than Merge, we haven’t heard of them, and we’ve heard of a lot of music stuff. We are psyched from beyond. In the words of Hank Williams, ‘Move over, cold dog, ‘casue a hot dog’s movin’ in!’”
Listen to “Ugly Little Victory” below with a sweet visualizer of short nature videos. Tickets for Friendship’s show at Union Transfer with Indigo De Souza can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.