Review Summary: Far-Less is an outside the box rock band, on a popular mainstream label, with little to no exposure...
Far-Less is during “Everyone Is Out To Get Us”:
Brandon Welch - Vocals
Mark Karsten - Guitar & Backup Vocals
Joseph Powers - Bass
Ray Felts - Drums & Backup Vocals
Jordan Powers - Guitar & Backup Vocals
Produced by Lee March & Far-Less
Original Release Date: February 7, 2006
Label as produced: Tooth & Nail Records
Far-Out
This is a band I found out while I was listening to new tracks from another band on the same label. I can’t lie to say that I was some local townie to this bands beginning talent, but in all honesty I was listening to Dead Poetic tracks on pure volume and pure volume has this great tool. If your label is cool enough you have this little ticker on each of the bands page to share the wealth with the other bands on the same label. The way I see things is a little different about reputable labels than most elitists but the way my motto works is along the lines of, “yeah they are on this hefty label so they probably are sold out but than again if this label sees potential profit in them, they must also be catchy and may of not sold out… yet.” Yeah it’s twisted magic but it works and I usually like a lot of the same bands on the same label. Far-Less description moderately surprised me how against the scene they were and just reading about them intrigued my interests. To be blunt I was “unexpected by welcome” when listening to “Everyone Is Out To Get Us”. My ears were tickled by a band that simply didn’t follow the rules to any genres and really left the door wide open for exposure. It is quite obvious that this band didn’t have a label telling them how they wanted this record to sound and I think that this band wouldn’t want it anyway but there way. It’s a rough outline but my ears were tickled to sounds that reminded me of like a warped version of Emery + He Is Legend with even some Showbread interests. If that can’t impress you enough, I think I can’t say much more to persuade you in this review but time to get technical.
“Everyone Is Out To Get Us”
Swelling feedback is how this album opens up but is opened directly by guitars and spins into a full blown band attack. Think about how a He Is Legend type of introduction from there new album and the vocals live up to that as well. Brandon Welch welcomes an undiscovered band to a popular label with all of the right tones. Frantic backup screams is fading out in the background but isn’t loud enough to be cliché but more so blends in well with the fast pace of music. This song takes different turns in time signatures to small breakdowns and winding interludes. It always keeps you interested and never lets you put down your guard. With only a minute left back up screaming is used to keep you intact that this is not going to be an all out sing along but will have many twists as heard in the upcoming songs. “Dialogue Supervisor (Rise Of The Pop Icon)” mows you away with a guitar intro with some sexual use of string bends. This song just reminds me of He Is Legend in almost all spectrums but it’s mostly the vocals and guitar work that run the same formats of one of my other well liked bands. The singing is really punchy and provides sufficient melody and the screaming doesn’t sound like it’s got Atreyu vocal distortion watering down. If you’re one of those kids who cringes as screaming, it’s not even that bad and you’ll be able to appreciate the singing to hopefully be able to override the second hand frantic screams. The band just burrows itself into these breakdowns but the way Far-Less works is when you breakdown, you got to add guitar solos and hooks so it doesn’t sound like a cliché double bass, palm muting guitar mess. The last 40 seconds of the song is devoted to an instrumental with a lot of ambient guitar like sounds and nice grooving bass which seems really extinct in another bands. “Jumping the Shark” transitions smoothly right from “Dialogue Supervisor” and when I first listened to the album I didn’t even know they were separate songs. The song is like a continuation and has soothing melodic vocals but climaxes at the chorus. The screaming is usually the exclamation of these climaxes and really fits in nicely and doesn’t feel forced, but actually feels appropriate.
“It Gets Complicated” is a different song that starts out on a slower punchier pace with this weird guitar lick in the beginning and sounds like its suited for an old Nintendo video game. It would be hard to explain it without being able to listen to it, but it usually some sexual delay and reverb out of the clean channel. I feel like a guitar lick like this should be used while playing Pac Man or Zelda. This song sounds most different from the other songs but doesn’t stray away from fantastic vocal work throughout the whole band and well produced guitar hooks. The song runs on a slower, punchier pace and isn’t as fast and relentless as the other songs. Of course the interlude of this song is going to speed up and let the guitar work truly shine and no doubt it does. By the interludes of a lot of these songs you will find guitar hooks upping the ante and screams. Sounds pretty textbook to me… and it fills efficiently.
“Garage Band Degree (Everyone else is doing it, Why Aren’t You?)”, is without a doubt my favorite song of this album. The chorus is extremely catchy and the rhyme scheme in the lyrics just glides over the listeners ears like he had his lobes buttered. The song as the others has plenty of instrumental hooks and variations and doesn’t sound like the same verse and chorus format looped over and over again. The song in general feels to be about fashion and scenes taking over music and for that alone I really love the song. The vocals feel somewhat sarcastic and backs up a witty tone which fit’s the lyrical outlook perfectly. “Walk Between The Raindrops” is a boring filler track that basically proves that someone in the band can play piano to what feels like a song that could fit perfectly in the “Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind” soundtrack. I do respect instrumentals and a piano but there’s really no reason to listen to this once and skip it every other time. “I looked at the trap, Ray” is what seems the bands most experimental track with the use of total screaming and a heavy guitar slamming down palm mutes. The track is heavy, and yeah I am impartial to that so I’m going to like it, but in all reality it proves to be nothing really special. It will be a hit or miss with a lot of people because the vocals sound like they should be switched to the solid state label if they made all of there songs like this, but it remains as much of an experiment.
“Too Pretty (to be a zombie)” brings me back to the He Is Legend method in my mind and really reminds me of there “China White” songs. The chorus harmony is absolutely beautiful with the guitar bleeding with the soothing vocals behind the chorus. The song is extremely strong in sense of staying power and can be switched to constantly if needed be for its vocal hooks. “Roswell That Ends Well”, uses a lead lick that’s similar to “It Gets Complicated” and takes on a real jazzy beat during the introduction. This song reminds me of the new Showbread album with it’s style and construction. The bass really does shine during this song but I am not a fan of the chorus and the keyboard. The song does improve by the 2 minute mark with its raging guitar work and the vocals improving dramatically. It’s almost like a whole different sound after the first 2 minutes. “Everyone Is Out To Get Us” is a song that brings me back to the first track, reminding me of the same format. The song is another stronger one on that album and ranks as good as “You Know What This Was”.
Song Layout
1) You Knew What This Was - 10/10
2) Dialogue Supervisor (rise of the pop icon) - 8/10
3) Jumping the Shark - 8/10
4) It Gets Complicated - 8/10
5) Garage Band Degree (Everyone else is doing it, Why Aren’t you?) - 10/10
6) Walk Between The Rain Drops - Filler
7) I Looked At The Trap, Ray - 7/10
8) Too Pretty (to be a zombie) - 9/10
9) Roswell That Ends Well - 7/10
10) Everyone Is Out To Get Us - 9/10
11) Semper - 7/10
Pros:
+ All out Vocals
+ Guitar Work
+ Follows no rules and pledges no allegiance to any particular genre
+ Production Value
Cons:
- Some repetitiveness in songs
