F.O.D. –
‘Harvest’, out February 7, 2017
Funtime Records, Effervescence Records, Bird Attack Records, Bells On Records
Funtime Records, Effervescence Records, Bird Attack Records, Bells On Records
Release
show/festival, February 11, 2017
Hangar 27, Edegem with Call It Off, Adrenalized, PMX, and many more…
Hangar 27, Edegem with Call It Off, Adrenalized, PMX, and many more…
One could
not possibly look past it these last few months, the entire internet but also
the majority of the real life world was highly anticipating this Belgian band’s
third full-album. And too damn right we
were! The album is officially among us
for a couple of days now, and I have yet to read the first not-totally-excited
reaction or comment. And that’s too damn
right as well.
A melodic,
harmony laden, emotional and diverse punkrock-anthem-filled beauty of an album
it turns out to be. Having had the
privilege of an intimate listening session at my place, and getting my hands on
both the vinyl and CD a wee bit sooner than the rest of the world, made me pick
up my pen (well actually no it didn’t, it made me tap on my keyboard…) to write
this down. Brace yourselves for a completely
biased analysis!
There’s 17
songs on this gem, and in non-stop rotation in my car for over a week, they made
me realize something I had never before experienced with any other album
ever. The last song, “Seven Times”,
which is one of my absolute favorites, ends with a last verse that lyrically
and musically refers to the first song.
What an awesome and clever idea!
On repeat, this makes for a seamless transition back to song ‘1’, as if
there was no end, nor a new beginning to the album. It’s brilliant. It makes you (or me, at least) not wanting to
eject the CD, at all! Ever!!
As a whole,
this album is by far F.O.D.’s best effort to date. Their darkest too… It reads as a story or
yes, a diary, covering the era in which songwriter Hans Roofthooft penned down
these tunes and lines. Personal suffering
and hardship often make for the best albums and songs, and they most certainly
have in this case. Having heard of some
of those experiences first-hand, months ago, made me choke up the first time I
listened to corresponding songs with the lyric sheet. The majority of the songs on here, paint the
picture of nearly two years I guess, of going through a divorce, and the mess
leading up to that heartbreaking decision.
Only to be followed by (what I can only imagine to be) the horrible
feeling of being all alone with a broken heart, disillusioned, yet with three
young kids whose world also got ripped apart, that take up all your energy in
need of care, love and a stable family environment. I still can’t sing along to ‘Forever Grateful
(for Toon)’ without a lump in my throat.
Thank God
the story ends with some positivity, courage, and the strong will and desire to
look forward, and tackle the future, hopeful and confident. That last song I mentioned before, is the
perfect example : “…seven times I’ll fall, eight I’m standing up, I won’t let
go…”
When I
think about it, there is so much ‘story’ condensed in all of the lyrics, it is
probably possible to write a book about this album, and who knows what will happen
within a few years when this band has acquired the world-domination that it
bloody well deserves!
But what
about the music, you say… Well, I am no musician. I can’t read a note, haven’t got a clue about
chords, keys, octaves, bars, times, beats… absolute n00b. But! I
can listen and compare, and give an honest, yet unsubstantiated opinion. Here goes…
I still pick up influences here and there (Weezer, NUFAN, Bad Religion,
Aussie skatepunk bands, …) but at the same time I truly believe this album has given
F.O.D. their own, trademark ‘sound’. The
colour of Hans’ voice, combined with the ever present harmonies with Stijn,
will often ring a Bad Religion bell, and some of the lyrical phrasing and
song-build-up is comparable to other bands, yes. But every song, when played outside of this
album’s context, will have you think “Ah yes, this is probably an
F.O.D.-song…!”, if you know anything at all about music, of course...
I even have
my favorite ‘second’ in this album! How about that… It is 00:17 – 00:18 of the
song “Autism Spectrum Disorder Blues”.
That shreddy, lightning fast, four-stroke-thingy, makes me cream my
pants every single time. Figuratively
speaking that is… What even makes this
song, and by extension the entire album, so much more outstanding is the fact
that this little one-second-hook could have easily been used three or four
times. But instead, at similar points
further down the song, there’s a drum fill, or an unexpected pause-stop, or
another riffy guitar bit. It’s just
brilliant, It is next-level craftsmanship and musicianship. It makes for a never-boring and
often-surprising listening experience, and I dare say that this has rarely been
done so well.
All of the
above, predicts a bright future for F.O.D., and a lot of blood, sweat and tears
in the practice space, ha! And I’ll be
checking for a perfect execution of all the tricky bits at the release show
this Saturday, HA!!
To
conclude, after one week of intense listening, these are my favorite songs so
far, in no particular order :
- Crew
You (because reasons)
- Autism
Spectrum Disorder Blues (because shreds)
- Forever
Grateful (because how torn apart can a father be)
- Never
Be Just Anyone (because I’m a sucker for staccato guitar bits, sue me!)
- This
Year Has Been The Worst Yet (because lyrics, so much beauty, so much pain…)
- Seven
Times (because chin up and see the light!!)
And the
songs that were a bit harder to get into at first, but are well worth the
effort. They grew on me with every spin,
and are almost just as favorite now, making this album extremely enjoyable
front to back… :
- There’s
A Place (vocal effect intro : hello Green Day!!)
- Kiss
Away (that instrumental last 70+ seconds, didn’t like it at first, gets better
every time)
There you
go, that was just my opinion... Now pick
up this album if you haven’t yet, and go form one of your own! Do it here :
That is
all. Carry on.
Werner.
(whose name sounds weird in English) (it does, you know…)
