Tracks
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Falling Up - Fangs. For a band with 3 albums under their belts already and well established in the Christian Rock scene for making very catchy, yet punchy electronic-tinged alternative rock, "Fangs" is where Falling Up, in many senses, really got interesting. While their debut "Crashings" was full of hooky chorus and guitar riffs and coupled with keyboards and electronic drums, "Fangs" begins to move away from the alt-radio-friendly turf they had cut their teeth on and takes us into ambient and experimental territory. The hooks are the still there, and Jesse Ribordy's voice and melodies and still immediately enticing, but while they have shrunk as a band (from 6 members down to 3 since their debut) they have definetly grown as songwriters.
Opener "A Color Eoptian" is quite brash and a little more unrestrained then their previous records have allowed, really starting the record with a proverbial kick-in-the-face. However, in the outro, they show you that they're no longer afraid to let the ambiance take over. It should also be noted that this album is a concept album, taking it's scenes from a science fiction story penned by singer/guitarist/keyboardist Ribordy. The story, while hard to follow at times, is really quite rewarding after a number of listens, and is very imaginitive.
A couple of tracks ("Steams of Woe at Acheron", "Goddess of the Dayspring, am I") still sound like a radio band making great catchy singles, but doing it far better and with more boldness than they had displayed to this point. They also allow themselves some quiet moments in here too, adding to the mood that Ribordy is trying to create with his story. The vocals overall are beautifully done, with lovely harmonies and some experimentation with vocal effects. You will have the melodies of these songs stuck in your head for weeks.
To conclude, I had almost written this band off as just a little band I used to like when I was a teenager, but upon rediscovering them at this point (and beyond - their next album "Your Sparkling Death Cometh" may be their masterpiece to this point) they have become dearer to me than their first albums would ever have suggested, even at the time of their release. 4.5/5
Opener "A Color Eoptian" is quite brash and a little more unrestrained then their previous records have allowed, really starting the record with a proverbial kick-in-the-face. However, in the outro, they show you that they're no longer afraid to let the ambiance take over. It should also be noted that this album is a concept album, taking it's scenes from a science fiction story penned by singer/guitarist/keyboardist Ribordy. The story, while hard to follow at times, is really quite rewarding after a number of listens, and is very imaginitive.
A couple of tracks ("Steams of Woe at Acheron", "Goddess of the Dayspring, am I") still sound like a radio band making great catchy singles, but doing it far better and with more boldness than they had displayed to this point. They also allow themselves some quiet moments in here too, adding to the mood that Ribordy is trying to create with his story. The vocals overall are beautifully done, with lovely harmonies and some experimentation with vocal effects. You will have the melodies of these songs stuck in your head for weeks.
To conclude, I had almost written this band off as just a little band I used to like when I was a teenager, but upon rediscovering them at this point (and beyond - their next album "Your Sparkling Death Cometh" may be their masterpiece to this point) they have become dearer to me than their first albums would ever have suggested, even at the time of their release. 4.5/5