Funeral For A Friend

After the transatlantic success of Lostprophets, eyes turned to the South Wales punk/hardcore circuit to find the next big thing. But whereas Lostprophets seemingly stalled in the LA recording studios with their protracted sessions for the second album, bands such as Midasuno and Douglas were busy, steadily building names for themselves.

But one band came through to steal their melodic hardcore crown, winning over hordes of fans and scoring chart successes in the process. Funeral For A Friend formed in early 2002 from the ashes of a group called January Thirst, and recorded their debut EP Between Order And Model after having been together for just a few months.

Released on Swansea's Mighty Atom label, the EP was a remarkable debut - confident playing, striking vocals and some classic songwriting. Indeed, one of the songs, Juno, was later re-recorded and renamed, and put out as their third single Juneau. When the single crash landed into the top 20, it looked to some like an overnight success. But really it was the result of months of hard graft by the band, on the road and in the studio.

Named after the song Funeral For A Friend by Florida post-hardcore group Planes Mistaken For Stars, it's often assumed the band were inspired by the 1973 Elton John instrumental of the same name. Not so. Indeed, it's hard to see a link between diverse South Wales rock and the intro to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

So, what do they sound like? The band members themselves prefer not to be lumped in with emo groups, and opt instead for the simple term 'rock', though that doesn't do justice to their unique pop-tinted fusion of metal, rock and emo.

But does it matter? Their debut album Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation spawned a number of hit singles. The single Streetcar strengthened their reputation further, with the band's second album Hours released in June 2005. Watch Funeral For A Friend soar.