Far - At Night We Live

  by Adrian Huggins

published: 11 / 6 / 2010

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Review

The sad thing for me about music at this moment in time is that there have been bands, pop groups, “artists”, call them what you will, and I would add rubbish ones at that, who have had a career including greatest hits and ‘best of’ albums since the last time Far released an album. It is twelve years now to be scientific about since the now legendary band released their last and best known album, ‘Water and Solutions’. Those in the loop will probably be very well aware of front man Jonah Matranga’s solo work under his own name and as One Line Drawing and also with his other band Gratitude, all of which have released great music in their own right. A lot, however, has stemmed from Far. A massive influence on band such as Jimmy Eat World, Hundred Reasons and Biffy Clyro to mention a few, Far were pioneers of the “emo” genre before it became shat upon on by haircuts and awful choruses. When these guys ruled, they did so by laying their hearts on the line, being honest, and making music that dug deep, that sang to your soul and really meant something. The bands I just mentioned are examples of excellent modern bands that have carried on this tradition, but there are countless more than bands that just sully the term emo. Far, however, just destroys these acts. Whereas ‘Water and Solutions’ had a certain distance between it and audience, ‘At Night We Live’ is right up there in your face. Blasting off with current single ‘Deafening’, it is obvious from the start that Far are not just shot of a bob or two and looking to make a bit of money. They’re here to stay and help in the quest to completely wipe out the mediocrity and “it’ll do” attitude that sweeps across music theses days. Much heavier than anything before them, they don’t let up with songs like ‘Burns’, ‘Fight song # 16, 223, 241’ and ‘Dear Enemy’. They sound like a combination of a really heavy A and Stone Temple Pilots mixed into one and really give your ears a good kicking when you whack this album on. The owner of one of the most sincere, encapsulating and moving voices on record, Matranga is on form here and does his best to show this side to the band on ‘If You Cared Enough’, ‘When I Could See and ‘Give Me a Reason’. This is real emo, written through tear-filled and not pound and dollar sign filled eyes. A truly touching song comes in the form of title track, which was written in for Deftones bassist Chi Cheng who has been in a coma since being involved in a car crash in late 2008. These guys know their friends and peers. There’s no fickle throw away attitude or sentiment on here and this can be heard throughout the entire album start to finish and this is what makes this band so good and so important. Produced by guitarist Shaun Lopez, who in this past twelve years has leant his production talents to the likes of Will Haven, Giant Drag and Deftones, amongst others, this album has done an incredible job of encapsulating everything that made Far brilliant and iconic in the first place. I fear it’ll be a long, long time before this lot bring out a ‘Best of’, and better we all are for this.

Track Listing:-

1 Deafening
2 If You Cared Enough
3 When I Could See
4 Give Me a Reason
5 Dear Enemy
6 Fight Song #16,233,241
7 At Night We Live
8 Burns
9 Better Surrender
10 Are You Sure?
11 The Ghost That Kept on Haunting
12 Pony