I'll be the first to admit that I was a little skeptical about a band whose name seems to have been spawned by hitting refresh one too many times on a punk/emo/hardcore band name generator. I'll also be the first to swallow my pride and reveal that these guys from Boston prove that sometimes I should just shut up and let the music speak for itself.
These guys are the real thing
With their sophomore album, Living in the Fallout, Far From Finished show more authentic attitude than most of these so-called punk bands that seem to be littering the airwaves of your local "new rock alternative" radio station. They also prove that there are still bands out there that can put together melodic, fist-pounding punk while waving their middle finger to all that they deem inferior.
While listening to this album you may catch a touch of Social Distortion there, a little bit of early Elvis Costello here and a touch of The Clash off to the side, but never so much so that you'll swear that you've heard the same chord progression or bass line somewhere else. This is one aspect where I think a lot of bands seem to miss the point and become afraid to sound like themselves and not one of their idols. Thankfully, Far From Finished is not one of those bands.
One thing's for damn sure on this album and that's that these guys are not afraid to let you know exactly how they "f***ing" feel, and I'm quoting that heavily. From the first self loathing track "Disaster" to the riotous and spiteful accusations of “Wanna Be A Catastrophe” the lyrics are always clearly expressed without being overly dramatic and forced.
This is also one of those albums that begs you to see the band live. There is a bit of polish on this record but not to the point where it detracts from the overall emotion and grit of the songs.
This is easily one of the better punk albums I’ve heard this year and there’s enough heart and bile to keep all of the disenfranchised singing along.
