'dependencies' cannot be applied to '(groovy.lang.Closure)'

You can go to Preferences and select "use default gradle wrapper" then rebuild the project. It worked well for me:

Go to

Windows

File -> Settings -> Build, Execution, Deployment -> Build Tools -> Gradle

Mac

Preference -> Build, Execution, Deployment -> Build Tools -> Gradle

and select Use default gradle wrapper

Based on what Android Studio generates, you need to have a top-level project file build.gradle, and another for your app build.gradle.

Top-level:

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.

buildscript {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        maven { url 'http://download.crashlytics.com/maven' }
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.1.0'
        classpath 'com.crashlytics.tools.gradle:crashlytics-gradle:1.+'
        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        maven { url 'http://download.crashlytics.com/maven' }
    }
}

Application level:

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'
apply plugin: 'crashlytics'

android{
    compileSdkVersion rootProject.compileSdkVersion
    buildToolsVersion rootProject.buildToolsVersion
    defaultConfig {
        minSdkVersion rootProject.minSdkVersion
        targetSdkVersion rootProject.targetSdkVersion
        versionCode rootProject.versionCode
        versionName rootProject.versionName
    } 
    buildTypes {
        release {
            debuggable rootProject.prodDebug
            proguardFile 'proguard.cfg'
        }
    }

    packagingOptions {
        exclude 'META-INF/LICENSE.txt'
        exclude 'META-INF/NOTICE.txt'
    }
    lintOptions {
        abortOnError false
    }
 }     `

dependencies {
    compile fileTree(dir: "$buildDir/native-libs", include: 'native-libs.jar')
    compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: '*.jar')
    compile project(':FRNDzTER_core')
    compile project(':cropper')
    compile project(':stickyListHeaders')
    compile "com.nostra13.universalimageloader:universal-image-          l                        loader:${rootProject.universalImageLoaderVersion}"
    compile "com.google.android.gms:play-    services:${rootProject.googlePlayServicesVersion}"
    compile "   "de.keyboardsurfer.android.widget:crouton:${rootProject.croutonVersion}"
    compile "com.nineoldandroids:library:${rootProject.nineoldandroidsVersion}"
    compile 'com.github.chrisbanes.actionbarpulltorefresh:library:+'
    compile 'com.crashlytics.android:crashlytics:1.+'
}

But even without all that, your problem is that you have a dependencies within your android plugin config.

android {
    dependencies {
    }
}

remove that empty dependencies block.

EDIT: I also started getting this error with the latest Android Studio, all I had to do was add a newer version of the Gradle plugin, and compileSdkVersion 22.

buildscript {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        mavenCentral()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath 'com.android.tools.build:gradle:1.3.0'
        classpath 'com.neenbedankt.gradle.plugins:android-apt:1.4'

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        jcenter()
        mavenCentral()
    }
}