Further Seems Forever
The Moon is Down
Tooth & Nail
Lo and behold, it seems there’s a sensitive streak underneath the tough veneer of these ex-Strongarm lads, Further Seems Forever’s The Moon is Down being their Sunny Day to buy some new musical Real Estate. But you can’t really fault the quintet for “taking it back” to the glory days of ‘94/’95 emo-rock; after all, in these post-Get Up Kids/Braid/Jimmy Eat World days, most schmaltz falling under that ripped n’ torn banner of “emo” is essentially Gin Blossomed pop. A time-tested formula for catharsis, their debut LP prominently features those sing-songy melodies that soar just high enough to well up a tear in a weaker man’s eye, tons of half-time/down-tempo transitions to get all the backpacks a’swaying, and in vocalist Chris Carrabba, a Geddy Lee-via-Jeremy Enigk elfin yelp that lets you know that, hey, he’s a sensitive guy. Pansy-assed, yeah, but bound to bowl over more than one emo-boy. Funny thing is, it’s a match made in, uh, heaven • that is, emo-rock and FSF’s Christian roots • one that’s inherently been there all along, given the choir-boy demeanor of nearly all the genre’s proponents. Goddamn if it’s not as catchy as the clap, but original? Hardly, unless your conception of “originality” includes such latter-day emo-casualties as Mineral, Boys Life, and nearly everything on Polyvinyl.
Tooth & Nail, PO Box 12698, Seattle, WA 98111; http://www.toothandnail.com
