Funeral For A Friend

Funeral For A Friend

Funeral For A Friend is a post-hardcore band from Bridgend, Wales, formed in 2001 and active from 2002 onwards. The group begins as a sextet called January Thirst before adopting its later name and recording a debut EP, Between Order and Model, with its original six-piece line-up.

Early releases and breakthrough

After only a few months together, the band changes line-up and signs to Warner Brothers Records, for which it records its second EP, Four Ways to Scream Your Name. Its debut full-length album, Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation, follows in 2003. Singles from that record include “Bullet Theory”, “Juneau” — listed as “Juno” on earlier EPs — “She Drove Me to Daytime TV”, and “Escape Artists Never Die”. A later single, “You Want Romance?”, comes from a B-side to “Escape Artists Never Die”. The band also releases the DVD Spilling Blood in 8MM, which documents its music videos, live footage, early discography, chronology, and an acoustic video for “Juneau”.

In the United States, the band issues Seven Ways to Scream Your Name instead of the UK EP sequence. That release includes three tracks from Four Ways to Scream Your Name, three from Between Order and Model, and one unreleased track.

Albums and changing sound

The second album, Hours, appears in 2005 and includes singles such as “Streetcar”, “Monsters”, “History”, and “Roses for the Dead”. The third album, Tales Don’t Tell Themselves, is preceded by “Into Oblivion (Reunion)” and also includes “Walk Away”. It marks a more melodic direction than the band’s earlier post-hardcore work.

The band later releases The Great Wide Open as an EP that reflects its earlier period and includes the title track alongside live versions of older EP songs. In 2008 it issues a new album through its own label, Join Us, after leaving Atlantic. The record is licensed to Victory Records for the US and Canada, released through Roadrunner Records in most other territories, and issued in the UK via Join Us.

Line-up changes and later records

Gareth Davies leaves in 2008 and is replaced by Gavin Burrough, who moves from bass to guitar when Darran Smith departs in 2010. Richard Boucher then joins on bass. In 2012 Ryan Richards leaves and Pat Lundy joins the band as his replacement on drums.

The greatest-hits compilation Your History Is Mine: 2002–2009 follows in 2009 and includes four new tracks. The band releases the EP The Young and Defenseless in 2010, then its fifth studio album, Welcome Home Armageddon, in 2011. Conduit arrives in 2013, and Chapter and Verse follows in 2015, led by “You’ve Got a Bad Case of the Religions”.

Breakup and reunion shows

Funeral For A Friend announces its breakup in 2015 and plays a final tour across Australia, Germany and the UK in 2016. At those shows, the band performs Hours and Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation in full on separate nights, alongside other material. In 2019 it returns for reunion concerts in Cardiff and London, with proceeds going to the family of a terminally ill friend of the band. The reunion line-up includes Matt Davies-Kreye, Kris Coombs-Roberts, Gavin Burrough, Richard Boucher, Darran Smith and Ryan Richards.

Festival appearances and later activity

The band is announced for Download Festival in 2020, though the event is cancelled, and later appears as a late addition to Slam Dunk Festival in 2021. It also plans UK dates focused on songs from Casually Dressed and Deep in Conversation, Hours and Tales Don’t Tell Themselves, with some shows later postponed to 2022. Richard Boucher is replaced on bass for the final four dates by guitar tech Steve Nash due to illness.

Style and labels

Funeral For A Friend is associated with alternative rock, emo, emocore, pop screamo and post-hardcore. Over its career it works with labels including Warner Brothers, Atlantic, Victory, Roadrunner, Good Fight Music, Distiller Records, The End Records and End Hits Records.