I hated these guys when
I first heard them. I was something of an elitist douchebag (still
am) and the whole 'screamo' scene just got on my nerves: seemingly
more about haircuts than songs; every band seemed to have a singer
who screamed and another member who did all the singing. It wasn't
quite metal, it wasn't anywhere near hardcore, and it seemed to be
what all the cool kids were listening
to, so naturally I hated it (please refer to my douchebag comment
above). Funeral For A Friend were, for me, the worst offenders.
I think it was the
vocals. I don't have a problem with rough or screamed vocals, but
these guys just sounded contrived, like it didn't come naturally,
like they were doing it because it was expected of them. Some record
company exec had spent a fortune making sure they had cool music
videos and a bunch of paid-for attention in the music press.
Arrogant and contrived, no tunes: not interested.
Well, it turns out I
was wrong.
They opened for Iron
Maiden at Newcastle Arena. With some degree of predetermined apathy
I stood cross-armed and watched them walking onstage, preparing to
suck... And, in-keeping with the universe's ongoing plan to prove me
wrong, Funeral For A Friend were fucking amazing that night and a new
fan was born. Playing to a hostile crowd they were fierce,
passionate and full of reverence for the headliners. The perfect set
should leave you wanting more and that's exactly what they did.
I started listening:
debut album Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation
was and still is an absolute stunner. From start to finish there is
not a second of filler and it shows the confidence of a band that
knows its own talent. It's emotional without being twee or trite,
it's heavy but memorable and tuneful; what the hell had I not been
hearing before? Tunes like 'Juneau', 'She Drove Me To Daytime
Television' and 'Bullet Theory' are all incredible but the stunning
'Escape Artists Never Die' is a dynamic, catchy modern rock song. I
couldn't get enough.
'Difficult'
second albums affect bands differently, but for FFAF they took the
pressure in their stride with 2005's Hours.
Bigger, more complex, sometimes darker, sometimes more hopeful, they
had released an album that admittedly took a while to appreciate.
First single, 'Streetcar' is an anthem and 'History', like Pearl
Jam's 'Daughter', is a bittersweet uptempo ballad that will mean
something different to every listener. Best of all is album opener
'All The Rage': with a twisting riff and melody holding it all
together it's a brilliantly arranged song and one of my favourites of
any band.
And
then something awful happened. Now a fully fledged fan, I was
listening intently when the first single from third album Tales
Don't Tell Themselves made its
debut. My heart sank on hearing 'Oblivion'. So simple, so
over-wrought, so middle-of-the-road. My reaction at the time: “Fuck
me, they've turned into Bon Jovi.” Indeed it sounded like they had
either pandered to studio pressure to become more accessible,
suffered some serious writers block and churned out filler, or got
old before their time. 'Oblivion', however, kept nagging away at me
and I found myself humming it at work. I gave in and bought the
album and found myself quite taken by how brave it was for them to
all but abandon their early style, releasing what was essentially a
melodic concept album about a tragedy at sea and its effect on a
community. It's a beautiful and moving album, but one that takes
time to adjust to.
Their
'next big thing' status now abandoned by record label and impatient
music press alike, they self-released Memory and Humanity
in 2008 and for me reaffirmed their status as one of my favourite
bands. It's a more immediate album, full of big riffs and dynamic
choruses. Such a shame that it was so under-promoted because this,
and 2011's Welcome Home Armageddon
contain some of their best work. Some of the riffs on display on
these albums are worthy of Metallica, but they never lost the melodic
flourishes that guitarist Kris Coombs-Roberts brought to the mix. And
while their gig attendances seemed to dwindle over this period, they
were still a fine live act. Singer Matthew Davies, never less than an
energetic performer, had an uncanny knack of never missing a note and
the band were tight and always fun.
Their
final two albums saw them return to a more aggressive style, probably
not evident since their first few EP releases before Casually
Dressed. For me, the Conduit
and Chapter and Verse
albums are good but not great, Davies' vocals less powerful and
perhaps no longer suited to the rawer scream he often adopts here.
While pleasingly heavy and angry, the subtlety and flourishes that
made their earlier songs so successful are missing from a lot of
tracks. They could still knock out a killer chorus, but something
had faded.
I
was disappointed to read that they were calling it a day, but
ultimately it made sense. I think the band themselves knew that it
was over and decided to call it a day with heads held high. Ending
with a series of concerts in which they played Casually
Dressed and Hours
from start to finish, it's good for a band to acknowledge what the
fans wanted to hear and leave the stage with some dignity. As an
interesting post-script, I missed their last show in Newcastle
because I was given tickets to see Slipknot play (ironically)
Newcastle Arena the same night. Funeral were consigned to a much
smaller venue, which they failed to fill. I know where I would
rather have been.
I
really loved this band and it's sad to see them go, but probably the
right time for them to do so. Some lyrical clunkers and a terrible
cover of 'The Boys Are Back In Town' aside, they rarely put a foot
wrong and have me hours of entertainment along the way.
Thanks guys.
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