On Saturday night, local four-piece Fripps & Fripps treated Waywards to a night of high-energy, high-volume indie rock. Emerging in Cronulla’s live music scene in 2015, the band has since toured their talents across Australia, even performing as far as Texas to represent the country at South by Southwest in 2019. Fripps’ indie sound has been likened to global powerhouses Two Door Cinema Club and The Kooks — with their catchy tunes it’s easy to see why. And for those curious about the band’s name, ‘Fripps’ is an abbreviation of ‘frozen nipples’ — appropriate given the temperature on the night of the gig, and yes, they came up with their name in high school.
Fripps were brought to Newtown’s local haunt Waywards at the Bank Hotel as a part of their ‘Reflections’ single launch tour, acting as a sort of soft-relaunch for the band as they release their first new music since their 2019 sophomore EP, ‘Keen for a Can’. If the track is any indication of what they’ve got to come, I’ll be keeping a close eye out for any new releases.
Fripps were welcomed warmly by a restless crowd, full of energy from impressive opening acts The Fruits and In Good Hands. The Fruits were a particularly great opener, bringing friendly and local vibes to the room. They established a good rapport with the audience, their unique sound setting the night up for success despite being down their usual bass player. Waywards was a fantastic venue for the night, the intimate space was the perfect location to have a boogie and a fair few drinks.
Fripps opened strong with ‘Strange Things’ and didn’t let up, its punchy opening riff cutting through any conversations in the crowd. The highlight of the evening for me was their stunning performance of ‘Cigarettes for Breakfast’, a groovy track with plenty of kick. The audience lurched to the front for the duration of the song, getting as close to the stage (you know, that slightly elevated platform you dance on at Birdcage) as possible. My neck is still sore from the headbanging I did to that one.
Slightly winding down the energy, Fripps put on an emotional rendition of their new single, ‘Reflections’. Each member of the band was able to showcase their talents, with a powerful instrumental followed by vocalist Bailey Stevenson’s captivating voice taking centre stage. ‘Reflections’ is a great track for the band to return from their hiatus with.
As the evening drew to a close, Fripps whipped the audience into a frenzy with their performance of fan-favourite track ‘Get Your End Wet’. With the song racking up more than one million streams on Spotify, the live performance certainly lived up to the hype. The crowd brought plenty of energy, moshing and crashing into one another with glee – I think half of my drink ended up on Waywards’ already-sticky floor.
Fripps & Fripps put on a fantastic show, and I’ll be first in line to see them again the next time they perform.
