Under the radar: Farewell to Arms
With my wife away this past weekend, I had to find something to do Saturday night. A friend of mine, Joshua Landis, called me that afternoon to let me know he was playing at a bar like 15 minutes from my house (a microbrewery with a good stoudt called Destiny Brewing Company in Phoenixville, PA). So, it was a no brainer, I went to hang out with Josh, hear him play a few songs, and drink a few…
After Josh played a short opening set (he was supposed to play 45 minutes or something and they only gave him 20… bastards!), a band from Connecticut set up and began tearing into a 30 minute set that impressed me quite a bit. After a song or two, they introduced themselves as Farewell to Arms, then without delay tore into another song. Their energy was incredible throughout the entire set and they were tight. Stage presence was quite obviously the selling point for the band, but their chops were not too shabby, either.
As of yet, I have not said anything about the style of music they play, and that is in many ways because I was afraid to. Sometimes I hate to classify music, but in this case the most accurate genre classification is one I tend to loathe: emo-core. That dreadful word makes me cringe, and I imagine many others cringe when they read it as well… but fear not, Farewell to Arms really doesn’t suck. Their sound isn’t somehting brand new, but it still avoids becoming generic and crappy (like almost everything else in the emo-core format).
Check them out for yourself, and make a point to catch them live if you get the chance… their live show will hook you. I have worked will 150+ bands and seen probably 300+, and they had the best stage presence I have seen in a good six months. Their EP, that’s another story… I haven’t listened to it much yet, so I can’t speak as to how well they translate to CD… keep your eyes peeled for a review on The Filter soon.
Expect big things from these guys. Visit their website, Myspace page, or their site on Pure Volume.
UPDATE 3/29/06 9:20 AM: Josh posted some pics on his personal blog, so check out some live pics from the show.
March 31st, 2006 at 10:11 am
I met these guys at the beginning of this year and they are definitly not lacking in the stage performance department. I have both their EP and their full-length, and in case you were still wondering, their EP is only and introduction to what these guys can do. Flash Crowd is my personal favorite song on their EP, you can check it out on their purevolume.
UNFORTUNATELY..
they just lost their awesome bassist Seth, and because he’s the one I talk to most often, I don’t know exactly where f2a as a band stands at this point. I really enjoyed this article and am glad to see that their talent is being recognized.
-emily
April 3rd, 2006 at 1:28 pm
i talk to the guys in the band regularly, i heard seth got kicked out because they werent getting along with him. i talked to michael ryan a few days ago and he said that they have one of their really good friends playing bass now and will be on the road full time in june.
August 17th, 2006 at 3:06 pm
Bro, for a Blog called “Crap Filter” you sure missed the mark on this one. Farewell to Arms are mediocre at best. There is absolutely nothing new to what they are doing. Their sound has been done to death a thousand times over. Why people continue to support and push this type of uninspired, conformist mediocrity is beyond me. Yah Heard?