Friend And Foe

"Friend and Foe" might be the first truly great record of 2007.

Ranging from the epic to the understated, Menomena manages to be innovative and accessible.

The line between cheese and accessibility can be thin, and whistling or handclaps or a hidden track or an overt songwriting method can all reek, but Friend and Foe has, just as ostensibly, no wasted space. The hinge is in the balance the band manages with every inkling of sound or production seeming both spontaneous and stultifying, both labored-over and cast off.

Friend and Foe follows through on the potential of their unique sound, proving their wildly great debut was no fluke.

There are subtle shifts at work with the band, and most allow their shady songcraft to emerge from overt experimentalism--perhaps too aware of its own inventiveness--into the realms of "art-pop."

Now that Menomena's technique feels less jarring and daring, though, the group has done a decent job of pouring its euphoric weirdness into bruised, beautiful songcraft.

There is nary a weak track here. [#16, p.93]

Menomena now has to be regarded as one of today's more intriguing rock outfits.

Hard to describe but easy to recommend.

There's a sort of magic in the way this Portland threesome balances structure and chaos, pop and noise.

Friend and Foe may be part unbridled energy, part thoughtful arrangement, part innovative experimentation, but it's the synthesis of these that makes it so fantastic.

It’s grandly impressive and points to potentially greater things in the future.

No filler, not one outtake, Friend and Foe succeeds in living up to the hype of Menomena's first LP by growing wiser with every loop of sax and blast.

Friend and Foe compensates for its occasional melodic malaise with its vigorous, exploratory prosody.