Further Seems Forever - Penny Black (ALBUM REVIEW)
Review By: Jacob Barnes (www.twitter.com/jimremis)
Since November of 2001 I have been a fan of Further Seems Forever after seeing them open for The Juliana Theory. Further's live show alone with their original sound, stage presence and crowd involvement was enough to make me pay attention and go home and look into the band. Their debut album “The Moon Is Down” is the definitive Further Seems Forever album and while the albums that followed were great, fans were left to wonder what would have been had Chris Carrabba stayed on. Now, with the release of “Penny Black” we find the band picking up right where they left off.
The opening tracks “So Cold” and “Rescue Trained” are true FSF songs with driving guitar sounds from Nick Domingeuz and Josh Colbert, big and complex drum tracks from Steve Kleisath, Chris Carrabba belting out choruses begging for sing-a-longs and Chad Neptune providing the rhythmic bass to tie it all together. The track “A System of Symmetry” is a slowed down pace, almost hypnotic track that seems like it would end the album like the final track “A New Desert Life” on their debut album, but it acts as a sort of intermission and a changing of the gears.
The tracks that follow show the bands musical talent with songs that play in odd time signatures and sounds making beautiful music in the chaos. “Rusted Machines” is the best example of that with the odd guitar sounds blending with the odd time signature of the drums and just when you think you know the song it turns on you into a more traditional sound with great sing-a-long parts.
Ending the album is the song “Janie” that is a sort of first for the band being an acoustic track. Some might at first mistake it for a Dashboard Confessional sound being acoustic, but it came from Josh Colbert and carries a true Further sound. The band considered turning it into a heavier electric sound, but it was so good they rightly decided to leave it as is and its a great end to a great album.
Eleven years is a long time to wait for an album, but I would say that it was well worth it. As for now the band has no real plans and will tour when time allows. Perhaps if things go well enough we could see Further Seems Forever do more albums and hopefully not have to wait decades for them to come out.
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