Far-Less

A Toast To Bad Taste

[4.5/5]


Tooth & Nail has a knack for plucking the best and brightest from Smalltown, USA. Days after Far-Less, very much fitting this mold, entered the studio in April to record A Toast To Bad Taste, their hometown of Blacksburg, Virginia, became the setting of the mortifying Virginia Tech shooting. Whether consciously or not, this young sextet deliver an effort that reflects bravery in both a musical and very personal way. Building on the shoegazer foundation of stalwarts like Elliott and Hum and blending in the more active flair of Muse and The Receiving End Of Sirens, the group paint a moody and beautiful canvas of engaging atmospheric rock. The vocals soar over a dynamic mixture of softer piano melodies and angsty guitar and drum licks. While the songs may not have the same charming and sugary hooks of some of their labelmates, this is an admirable musical effort that commands you to turn it up. (TOOTH & NAIL) Kevin Wade