- Release Info -------------------------------------------------------------- -
Artist: Fang Island
Album: Fang Island
Label: Sargent House
Playtime: 31:27 min
Genre: Indie
URL:
Rip date: 2010-03-11
Street date: 2010-02-23
Size: 54.88 MB
Type: Normal
Quality: 230 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo
- Release Notes ------------------------------------------------------------- -
"If this is the arena rock of the future, send me a ticket" - Pitchfork
"A triumphant, heavily riffed, primarily instrumental epic, whiplashing
through six minutes of smiling prog jams, and as many tempos as passages,
before settling into one last minute of uplifting chants." -- Stereogum
"Life-affirming prog guitar anthems." û Seattle Stranger
Fang Island describes its sound as "everyone high-fiving everyone." And, the
Brooklyn quintet's anthemic and soaring songs make it quite possibly one of
few bands befitting such description.
Its finger-tapping guitar lines, chanted vocals, triumphant harmonies and
overall perky songs hearken to the sort of "Total Music" of the Fucking
Champs, Jay Reatard, Ponytail, Kraftwerk, Marnie Stern, Thin Lizzy, et al.
But, perhaps more so, its songs are like the music in your head at that
moment when everything feels just right: that first kiss, that high score on
the video game, buying your first small nation in cash... you know, good
stuff.
Fang Island began, oddly enough, as an art school project while the band
members were attending the prodigious Rhode Island School of Design (also the
foundation for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Les Savvy Fav, Lightning Bolt, Six Finger
Satellite and some band called the Talking Heads.) According to guitarist
Jason Bartell, the goal was to "make music for people who like music." That
is, music without irony that harnesses its uplifting qualities. Just like a
classic rock song or classical symphony can stir us emotionally, Fang Island
exists to unlock that spirit.
Fang Island is guitarist Jason Bartell, bassist Michael Jacober, guitarist
Chris Georges, guitarist Nicholas Andrew Sadler, and drummer Marc St.
Sauveur. They all share collective group vocal harmonies and the occasional
hand claps. While Sadler is also known for his role in the debauched rock
band Daughters, it is only his fretboard skill that translates between the
two groups.
Fang Island begins appropriately with the sound of erupting fireworks on
"Dreams of Dreams" leading into a cascading chorus of ringing guitar notes
before the group vocal harmonies chime in with the mantra, "they all are
within my reach, they are free." The second song, "Careful Crossers" launches
in beneath the vocals with a chorus of gleaming guitar harmonies smeared over
the marching, syncopated rhythm section. Elsewhere, tracks like "Sideswiper"
hearken to the metal-laced positivity of Andrew WK. "Daisy" sounds like a
unique collaboration between the Fucking Champs and Jay Reatard. Throughout
the album, it's like listening to the cool version of classic rock -- the
type of anthemic pop -- without the cheesiness -- that you wished Journey and
Boston could've made
- Track List ---------------------------------------------------------------- -
01. Dreams Of Dreams ( 1:57)
02. Careful Crossers ( 2:51)
03. Daisy ( 3:19)
04. Life Coach ( 2:57)
05. Sideswiper ( 4:13)
06. The Illinois ( 2:27)
07. Treeton ( 3:28)
08. Davy Crockett ( 5:47)
09. Welcome Wagon ( 2:49)
10. Dorian ( 1:39)
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