Far – At Night We Live

 

Any subsequent releases by Far were always going to face tough comparisons to their 1998 masterpiece Water And Solutions. With twelve years of alternative music struggling to measure up to that benchmark, the reassembled Sacramento quartet have inexplicably opted to fight their new battle on the level of their asinine contemporary protégés. Accordingly At Night We Live is very much a product of its time. Shorn of all the rough edges, cracking voices, dynamics, roominess and general personality of its predecessor, it is as slick and forced as so many of the contemporaries who helped turn emotional hardcore into the MTV parody it is today. The rhythm section in particular is horribly squashed by compression, as if some giant, digital bastard were physically squatting on the drumkit. Jonah Matranga's vocals struggle to break through the lacquer with only intermittent reminders of just how cathartic a singer he can be. Decent songs, delivered in an indecent manner. [Chris Cusack]