Fair To Midland
Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True
Universal Republic/ Serjical Strike
Fair To Midland had me convinced with their breakout EP last year (produced by label owner and System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian), but that short but powerful appetizer pales in comparison to the full length. Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True finds the Texas genre-defying quintet once again pushing the boundaries of rock.
The 4 songs initially introduced on The Drawn and Quartered EP have been polished up, and slipped alongside 7 new and unheard tracks all of which reemphasize the fact that this is a band to watch as the year presses on. System of a Down seems to be on hold, Tool can be too elitist for some, and The Mars Volta can just get too plain confusing. Fair To Midland have got the best elements of all of those bands, without the downsides, and they put on a killer live show.
Opening track “dance of the manatee” sets the bar high for this album, and yet somehow they have managed to not falter after such a strong intro. Skip ahead to song #7 (“a wolf descends upon the spanish sahara”) and they still should have your jaw dropping in disbelief that a band these days can still sound big and epic without sounding contrived.
Fair to Midland: http://www.fairtomidland.com
