A Post About Music

I don't write about music. It's because I don't think I know much about it other than what I listen to and even then I like it because it's catchy or says something to me not because of chords or hooks and time signatures or whatever. I'm no music critic.

There's another reason too: in the time between 2009 and now I've bought upwards of five CDs (I never used to be able to go into a store without buying at least that many in my high school days). In other words, there are few new bands or albums out there that convince me that I just need to own them, listen to them from start to finish over and over, hum them in my head and own them for the rest of my life. There's barely a band these days that can churn out 10 tracks worth listening to and since I have upwards of 1000 CDs collecting dust in my closet I figure I might as well just listen to them instead of getting new ones to collect dust with them.

That said, the I bought Far's At Night We Live. If you don't know Far, well you should and that's why I'm writing this post. They were one of the most influential bands of the 90s but never really caught on and then broke up because their singer Jonah Matranga and their guitar player Shawn Lopez (the two main songwriters) could get along. They released two independent albums the first (Listening Game) sounded like Pearl Jam and the second (Quick) sounded like garbage. Then when they hit the major labels with Tin Cans With Strings to You, which established their sound (a little raw, a little jagged, a little punky and a little hardcore but not without a little melody) that they would perfect on their brillant Water & Solutions album before calling it a day. Their sound would go on to influence an entire generation of post-hardcore and emo bands from Thursday, Thrice, Glassjaw, Jimmy Eat World and maybe even The Used.

In their time they toured with Incubus and the Deftones and after the split Jonah (one of my favourite singers and songwriters) went lo-fi and acoustic with his Onelinedrawing band, went a little pop with his underrated band Gratitude, turned Onelinedrawing songs into rock songs with New End Original and then finally just started releasing music under his own name with his brilliant solo album And, which I can listen to any time, in any mood and it always makes me smile. Jonah's gift to the musical world is that he writes honestly and with emotion. Has there every been a truer or more honest and tender love song than Every Mistake?



Lopez went on to do his own thing too. He did producing gigs for friends like The Deftones and Will Haven and formed his own band A Revolution Smile, which he took up vocal duties for as well. They sounded like Far in need of a better singer, not to take away from their merits or knock Lopez.

Anyway, eleven years later Far are back together and have released a new album At Night We Live (the title track a beautiful tribute to Deftones bassist Chi Cheng who fell into a coma after a car accident). Needless to say it's a masterpiece. Not once does it step wrong, with all twelve tracks being keepers. It's been in my car for weeks now. I try to take it out but am disappointed that whatever I have decided to listen to instead isn't as good as Far and just put it back in. It's that good. It's poppy and catchy and upbeat and driving and rocking and everything music so rarely is today. Both Jonah and Lopez are in top form and if At Night We Live isn't the best album of 2010 it's going to be close. So check out a couple of tracks below and then go out and buy it, even if you don't buy music, this is one to own.