Further Seems Forever

Item: The Moon Is Down
Author: Bert Gangl

The Moon Is Down

(2001)

Reviewed by Bert Gangl

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Label Tooth & Nail RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2001

alternative rock emo post-hardcore

The history of Further Seems Forever is inextricably tied to that of the Miami-based punk band Strongarm, from which the bulk of its members came. Fusing together the hardcore punk of Husker Du and the thrash metal of Sepultura for their sound, Strongarm released only two full albums for Tooth & Nail Records, 1996's Atonement and 1997's Advent of a Miracle, before packing it in. But, several members of Strongarm later reconvened to form Further Seems Forever and, in 1999, the band released a six-song split EP, From the 27th State, with fellow Floridians Recess Theory on the small Birmingham, Alabama, Takehold Records label. The EP earned positive reviews and the band was nominated for best new group at the 1999 Slammie (South Florida music) Awards. The group signed with Tooth & Nail Records in November of that year.

Although all four instrumentalists from Advent are once again accounted for on The Moon is Down, FSF's full-length debut is anything but a carbon copy of the Strongarm projects that have come before it. While Strongarm's punk rock ethos, with its rough-edged instrumentals, blinding speed and near-shouted vocals, pops up here and there on songs like "Pictures of Shorelines," other pieces, like "Snowbirds & Townies" and the title track are clearly stamped with the softer, more melodic alternative pop/rock trappings of artists like Fono and the Goo Goo Dolls. And the band has buried any trace of its hardcore roots on the careening "Madison Prep," which harks back, more than anything else, to the buoyant early '70s classic power pop of Badfinger and the Flamin' Groovies. Given its diversity, a collection of songs this varied might well have wound up being nothing more than a haphazard collection of mostly incongruent elements. To avoid this, however, the band deconstructs each of its compositions into short, elemental musical phrases, running each through a myriad of complex, start-stop rhythms and changing time signatures. The approach ends up lending the album a sort of unifying progressive rock underpinning that merges the assorted songs into a decidedly harmonious whole.

The songs on Moon are, by and large, melancholy reflections on the darker side of interpersonal relationships and the corresponding efforts made to restore them. Like so many other artists whose focus is so exclusive, the members of FSF occasionally resort to cliche'd or cloying language, like that of "Pictures of Shorelines" (You're my best side/ And it's early June/ So the sand's still dry/ And you have got the boldest eyes), to make their case. But, more often than not, the lyrics on the release are both thought-provoking and unique, forming the perfect complement to the group's enlivened instrumental work. The staccato phrasing on "The Bradley" (False pretense/ Like resonance/ On your rising sentiment and confidence) meshes smoothly with the song's frenetic musical section. "Just Until Sundown" (Blaming this all on the moment/ Blaming this all on my views/ Blaming the mood on the music/ Blaming it all on you) makes equally fine use of both parallelism and repetition to drive its point home. And the lyrical structure of "Justice Prevails" (You should have waited until you ended this/ Then you'd have nothing to confess/ I thought you'd leave me next to nothing/ And now you're leaving me much less) is simply a fine example of well-constructed and thought-provoking word use.

Despite the group's moving into a decidedly more pop-oriented vein, Chris Carrabba still delivers his vocals in classic punk fashion. While the less-than-perfect combination undeniably works to diminish Moon's overall coherency, the juxtaposition of the pure punk and pop elements does infuse the effort with an engaging sense of tension and urgency that it would otherwise be lacking. And although the material on Moon is not as instantly memorable as, say, the classic power pop offerings of the Raspberries, the modern rock of the Foo Fighters or the comedic punk-pop of Blink 182, its frantic pace and near-seamless combination of these potentially divergent musical styles serves as a most effective invitation to an exhilarating and ably crafted piece of work.

3.5 tocks