THE SKINNY: Anna Friedberg’s vision for the debut album of her band, Friedberg, was simple; she wanted it to sound like a road trip. But over the course of the ten tracks, she explored just how vast and varied the road can be, changing up who’s in the passenger seat, the mission of the journey or the atmosphere inside the car. From excited theme wavers for fun to wrought and tense soundtracks for the drive towards an emotional showdown, all bases are covered on Hardcore Workout Queen as you buckle in for an indie ride.
That open-endedness is reflected in the album’s title track, too. On ‘Hardcore Workout Queen’, the band celebrate everyone with an ‘I don’t really care what you do as long as you’re happy’ approach. It’s for the women waking up at 5am and killing it on rowing machines just as much as the women sleeping all day on their couches as Friedberg writes a new empowering indie anthem.
But lyrically, the album is at its best when it gets personal and specific. Friedberg said that on the album she wanted to explore the perspective of strangers as if she was peering into their car windows, but it’s best from her driving seat. ‘My Best Friend’ is the finest example of this as the all-female, all-LGBTQ+ band navigate the choppy waters of queer love where friendship and desire make for a confusing cocktail of suspense and seduction.
Instrumentally, it’s a masterpiece. We’re in an era where indie pop truly reigns supreme. Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter have shredding guitars on their bubblegum pop songs. The rise and rise of acts like The Last Dinner Party, MUNA and The Beaches show the hunger for catchy and hooky tunes but with an alternative edge. And on Hardcore Workout Queen, Friedberg are more than primed to take their place amongst the ranks, delivering masterfully layered tunes with plenty of texture and intrigue but an overarching accessibility that makes these songs hit-worthy.
When it comes to Friedberg’s original mission, she succeed. Each track seems to open on a new story and a new emotional world as if each song could be a soundtrack for a new cast of characters heading off on a new journey. But beyond capturing the spirit of roadtrips, it would make a perfect roadtrip record as a skip-less start to finish listen that stayed interesting and exciting for a lengthy car journey in need of a cinematic sheen.
Hardcore Workout Queen track by track
Release date: 8th November | Producers: Daniel Brandt and Matthias Biermann | Label: Clouds Hill
‘100 Times’: A beautifully mixed, expertly layered indie-pop song that welcomes you into a road-tripping album with exactly the kind of cinematic flair you’d want. [3.5/5]
‘The Greatest’:Hardcore Workout Queen sounds exactly like what frontwoman Anna Friedberg wanted it to: a series of road trips with different friends in different atmospheres. Here, the energy is frantic yet hyperfocused, like it’s barrelling down the highway, prepping for some big emotional showdown. [3.5/5]
‘Venice 142’: Friedberg naming the band after herself is fitting, as tracks like this one show how unified they are. Her voice moves between smoothness and grit while the band does, too, with these luxurious verses cracking open into deliciously rocky moments. [3/5]
‘Hardcore Workout Queen’: A track that celebrates you, no matter what your productivity levels are. From the girls rotting away in bed to the hardcore workout queens racing past their window, everyone gets a medal in this gorgeous indie anthem. [3.5/5]
‘So Dope’: The sonics here are instantly hooking as the band once again proves their power in energy and expert layering. It’s fun, it’s catchy, it’s littered with unexpected twists; it’s exactly what you want from an indie-pop tune. Then, as it builds to a cacophony of noise, it becomes something even better. [3.5/5]
‘I sometimes Do (But Mostly Might)’: A different vibe comes in here as the band drop down into a kind of psychedelic, slacker sound that suits them beautifully. [3.5/5]
‘My Best Friend’:For gay women, love can be a confusing minefield of friendship and desire. Friedberg tackles it with exactly the kind of tense and seductive edge it deserves right here. [4/5]
‘Better Than We Are’: After the more outright indie-pop energy of the album’s first tracks, something like this that’s more mysterious and complex adds a great new side to the record and proves the band’s broad power. [3/5]
‘Hello’: As the first song Anna Friedberg wrote for her new band, ‘Hello’ serves as a kind of recipe or an insight into the vision they’ve followed. As suggested by the rest of the album; it’s high-octane and hooky, making it clear that Friedberg were always on a golden path. [3/5]
‘Pull Me Off The Passing Lane’: To end this road trip album, Friedberg return to the open road with a song that follows the lines on the highway to some unknown place, bringing it back to the cinematic flair that opened it up for a beautiful full circle. [3/5]
