For Against - Coalesced

  by Chris Jones

published: 8 / 1 / 2003

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Having now listened to this album on a daily basis for the past week, I'm more than a bit disappointed that this is the first album by For Against that I've heard. 'Coalesced' is in fact the bands 6th full length release - their first album came out in 1987 ! - and it comes 5 years after their last release 'Shelflife'. Their early work came out on Independent Project Records, home to a number of bands that embraced the dream pop sound that was coming out of the UK.  It seems somewhat fitting that the Minneapolis based Words On Music label brings us this release, as they've been releasing some very good albums from bands that also share this dream pop aesthetic. Now hailing from Lincoln, Nebraska and seldom touring surely aren't going to help your band catch the ears of a huge fan base, but the shimmering guitars, driving rhythm section, and the boyish, almost fragile vocals should be more than enough to win this band a wide audience. The guitar lines tend to dance,rising and falling as the bass and drums speed up and slow down. The reverb/chorus on the guitar creates a perfect dreamy/atmospheric backdrop for the reflective, heartfelt lyrics. While there is an air of sadness to most of the songs on this album, the tone is more one of understanding and acceptance than disbelief and denial. If a breakup can be considered romantic, almost positive, then this would be the soundtrack to that breakup. "Heave a heavy sigh, say that it's alright"  (Medication) "Some say that timing is everything, you were everything for me, for so long" (So Long) "Through storm and stress, I still love you best, I don't want to be without you"  (Coalesced) "Left alone, realized, haven't felt so free in such a long time"  (Shelflife) While most of their fellow US dream pop bands from the early 90's have ceased to be, For Against is still making great music out there in Lincoln, Nebraska. This album would have easily been on my "favourites of 2002" list had I heard it earlier and now I'm wondering if For Against's other albums should have been on my lists years ago too - I'll be trying to figure that out just as quickly as I can track down their other releases. If like me, you've never heard For Against then you owe it to yourself to check out this album.

Track Listing:-

1 Medication
2 So Long
3 Fuel
4 Coalesced
5 Outside a Heart
6 Shelf Life
7 Love You

Label Links:-

http://www.words-on-music.com/
https://www.facebook.com/wordsonmusic
https://twitter.com/WordsOnMusic
https://www.youtube.com/user/shouldfish

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