The Art of Rock: The Moth & the Flame

"When we first moved here I was really in love with the donut shops that are on every corner. I thought that was pretty amazing." That’s what the Moth & the Flame keyboardist, Mark Garbett had to say. The musical road from their native Provo, UT to Los Angeles, CA measures approximately 645 miles and at the end of the travel rainbow apparently there awaits a pot of donuts. "They all taste really good." he added. Welcome to LA, gentlemen.

If you’re an LA resident, Mark’s observation makes perfect sense. No seriously; it’s so on point that it may even instill some local flavor pride. Brandon Robbins (vox/guitar) is on a similar train: "For me, I'd have to say it's all about the food. A million different restaurants that are all amazing and you can go whenever you want. Just awesome. And the weather is perfect all the time."

That leaves us with drummer Andrew Tolman’s opinion to judge. "There's a lot that I love about the city, but I'm kind of a sucker for the beach.” he admits. “Anytime I have spare time, my wife and I will drive down and I really enjoy it. I think it's a bit therapeutic for me."

For seven months now the Moth & the Flame (TMTF) have called Los Angeles ‘home.’ They’ve been busy: they secured a month long Monday night residency at the Silverlake Lounge. They’ve been productive: they’ve recorded an EP (plus enough material for an upcoming full album) and they’ve a musical vision that’s currently under construction. Brandon and Mark had Norther; a band which Mark calls "the earliest version" of TMTF. Andrew (founding member and former drummer of Imagine Dragons, a band partially from Provo) rounded out TMTF to where that vision can fully flesh itself out which it began to do with the 2011 release of their eponymous full-length debut. Somewhere among the blurred lines of art, indie and alternative rock (as opposed to the Robin Thicke-kind of blurred lines) with perhaps a dash of math thrown in, genre-fication gets a little cloudy (yes, I just made that word up). You can hear shades of what makes Radiohead so vibrant, fascinating, hypnotic and occasionally confusing (the song "Winsome" is nothing if not Exhibit A). At the end of the day, it’s irrelevant as long as the music stands up but the ability to identify can be helpful.

“I like to say art rock fairly often.” Mark offers. “I'd also say our music is kind of an introspective mood, like a mood rock. We like to really focus on the feeling of the song when it’s first written and just kind of really dig into feeling to enhance it, if we can. That's always one of our main goals in writing.”

That particular focus on the sensory nature of their sound is key and prompts Brandon’s response: “It's hard to say. We’re looking for another term I guess it's just like Indie alternative rock, more like moody rock or introspective rock. I don’t know. Intelligent rock.”

Now along with the donut-thing this, too, makes sense because of the distinctly cerebral nature of the music. There’s nothing linear about the song structures: the layers of melody, the rich sound, the shifting and alt rhythms, the build-ups into languid releases. Perhaps there is a goal of capturing a particular aesthetic, harnessing a specific chaos to morph along with a personal artistic view. Not everyone’s going to get it, but those who do will do so because it taps into a place that perhaps straighter edged rock or fluffier, self-centered pop does not.

For Andrew, a link to feeling is paramount. “At least for me when I listen to music, the music that I connect to the most is when I can feel that [emotion] transmitting through; the emotion that the musician or the band is portraying seems real to me.” he added. “We just try and take that song we’re recording and perform it the way that it was meant to be performed and the way we envision it when it was being written. One of the key elements is just portraying the right emotion, tacking them to the song and whatever the song is about. And the emotion that it's portraying, we try to enhance it.”

That being the case, when it came time to record their next EP, Brandon, Mark and Andrew went into the studio with the fairly like-minded ears of Joey Waronker (Atoms For Peace and Beck drummer). Mark explained how that association came to be.

“We hooked up with Joey through our manager who was friends with him. He sent him some of the first album. He listened to it, really liked it and he was kind of the middle of producing a couple different projects and he had some free time in between his tours with Atoms For Peace and with all the things that he’s been doing with Beck.

We met with him in LA and he was really cool. We decided to do one track with him to kind of feel it out and see if it was something that we wanted to keep doing. The first track we did with Joey was “Sorry”, it's the lead off track for this EP. It went really well. At the time we were moving to LA so when we moved here we did four other tracks with him.”

The result was the October 29th release & (ampersand): the symbol, itself, turned upside down for artistic and disarming affect, the music an exercise in stylized substance. Its apologetic lead off single, “Sorry,” which boasts the stinging bridge, “How is it we were always running out of love but never walked away?” is an easy read: Something or someone fucked up.

“Yeah, that one’s an interesting one.” said Brandon. “It came together very quickly and very emotionally. It's about betrayal and relationships and just all these very, very strong emotions.” As singer and songwriter of the band, Brandon bears the weight of being not only the author of the messages but also the messenger. “I have a very unorthodox way of writing lyrics and I try and let my subconscious do most of the writing. I’ll guide it a little bit with certain things that I want to get across but, for the most part, I just kind of let it come to me. I think that's the best way to let your feelings write the lyrics.” Now we have 1 ½ albums worth of messages to dig into for reference. As for what he sees as the difference between their 2011 offering and &, Brandon says, “We've had two years since the full-length album to kind of figure ourselves out and I think it shows in the music. I think it's just a more mature The Moth & The Flame. “ And as for his songwriting that, too, has matured.

“I think it's been a transition for me. As I get more comfortable and find myself as a lyricist I'm growing a little bit more towards literal, but still even then I'm much more abstract. I think the first album was very abstract and kind of hidden and I think I've grown a little more towards a little less abstract for the EP.”

From the 2011 album to the & EP there is carryover: the dramatic and ultimately tempestuous “How We Woke Up” which was inspired by the first album’s artwork (the image of a pilot in a state of uneasy suspension) and serves as a complementary bonus piece to & and a fair place to compare and contrast the lyrical then and now.

“The artwork depicts this pilot in this precarious situation in the desert and that image is just so powerful. There you wake up, not necessarily literally, but you wake up in a situation that is precarious or that you didn’t want and you are having this realization of where you are in life: what you decide to do from that point is what “How We Woke Up” is about.”

Personally, I give him cool points for creative thinking on that one.

Speaking of waking up in a precarious or “decide what to do from this point on” moment, one day the three woke up living in Los Angeles having left things known, friendly and successful behind in Provo, UT. Not a lightly made decision. Mark explains:

“It's something we all talked about. We had been playing in Utah and felt like the music scene in Provo is really amazing and we love it and we love everyone there. We felt like we'd reached the point where it makes sense to move to L.A. We felt like there’d be more opportunities for us out here and not just because of the success we were having in Utah. Our manager talked to us about it and thought it would be a really good idea and so we did it. We moved out and I'm really glad we did.”

As a city less than 45 square miles, lets play the odds and assume that Provo’s music community is modest but concentrated with artists comfortable, familiar with and fairly supportive of one another which might make the decision to leave difficult. “Yes and no.” Brandon explained. “We’d been in the Provo music scene for quite some time with The Moth & the Flame, but also with other bands. I think it was difficult because we had made such good friends and acquaintances that it was just hard to leave. But at the same time I think we had been there long enough and we were all kind of itching for something new and we knew that it was the best thing for the band.

For that reason we were all very excited to move to LA and we definitely make decisions based on feelings and vibes. All three of us felt like LA was pulling us to it. It felt very natural and so it was a really easy decision for us, strangely enough.”

You know what’s not strange? TMTF as tour mates and opening band on the Fall leg of Imagine Dragons’ European tour. For approximately 7 weeks Andrew, Mark and Brandon road tripped with one of 2013’s biggest breakout bands. Yes, that happened. How the hell did that happen?

As Andrew explained, “They reached out to us and offered some show opportunities: one in Utah, where we have a lot of home fans, and one in Idaho. Those shows, they went really well and the crowd reacted well. So they wanted us to stay in touch about having us do some shows later with them.” Some shows. Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Vienna, Belgium, Berlin, London, Luxembourg: some random shows. Impressive places to begin supporting an EP, touring its new music and testing it on unfamiliar ears. In its recorded form, the songs are bold and textured, stormy and sometimes bleak but they are packaged to be affecting. So believe me when I say that live is truly where TMTF’s music lives: in heady translation. “Ultimately the live experience is what we work for,” Andrew added. “Hopefully we can win over as many fans as possible through our recordings. We want to be able to do that and more with the live experience.”

Considering that live experience is exactly how we became acquainted, mission accomplished.
Signed,
@dharma69 aka Diary of a Concert Whore

Dirty Glitter 2013 In Review #2: ft. Brendan James, The Alarm Science, The Moth & the Flame

Welcome to the second installment in my series of recaps of the songs and artists that I selected for our High Voltage segment on Dirty Glitter with Brody Ramone and I'm extra fond of these choices for various reasons.

Dirty Glitter 9/26/2013: Diversity Rocks

A little art rock, a quintessential singer/songwriter and some indie rock touched with electronica. Diversity makes the musical world go round.

Brendan James: "The Skeptic"
[I chose this particular song from Brendan because it's the voice of reality to me, personally. That thing I said about daily minefields and mindfucks? Here's a song saying amongst all of that, having a saving something to hold on to]
In the vein of the singer/songwriter, Brendan James possesses the immense gift of being able to paint a lyrical picture and tell a story so vivid you can almost taste it. He's from Derry, NH and specializes in emotionally connected and connective piano driven moments of song that reflect his personal convictions: whether he's singing about gun violence or divorce or conscious living, Brendan does it with elegant honesty and care. This track is "The Skeptic" and from his latest album, Simplify which, according to Brendan, represents him "finding a clarity" he'd been searching for for years. So pay particular attention to the lyrics because there's gold in there.

The Alarm Science: "Uncover All The Scars"
"Getting a lesson in how it's done by The Alarm Science."
[All I can say about the Alarm Science is as good as they sound recorded, live they're ridiculous. In the best way]
That was a tweet sent out to the interwebz by a musician who happened to be catching the Alarm Science's set recently and, generally, you know it's good when other musicians are all over it. Made up of Cameron Meshell and Marc Slutsky and, while only a mere two guys, this Los Angeles-based duo who lace their rock with a touch of electronica make amazingly good noise live. Hopefully they'll hit the road soon and head your way so that you all can find out for yourselves.

The Moth and the Flame: "Sorry"
[This is a band that has an emotional pull to me; there's this musical tension about their songs which requires leaning into. I like that.]
The thing about The Moth and the Flame is their command of the backbone of art rock with an eerie and atmospheric haunt which was thoroughly showcased on their heady 2011 self-titled debut release. Think something of a Radiohead/Pearl Jam lovechild, if you will. Originally from Provo, UT Brandon Robbins (vox, guitar), Mark Garbett (keys) and Andrew Tolman (drums) are now settled in Los Angeles and have tapped producer Joey Waronker (who has worked with the likes of Beck and Atoms For Peace) to flesh out their follow up EP due out October 29th. Here is a band who is seemingly much more interested in substance over style and that's what makes them a band to keep your ear on.

Check these artists out and tell me what you think. You can always find me out there on the interwebz like on Twitter at @dharma69.

Dirty Glitter 2013 In Review: The Record Company, Louis London, Ceasefire, Mona & James Bay

Here we are nearing 2013's end and isn't this the by-the-book time of the year for year end lists and stuff? Best ofs, worst ofs, highlights, lowlights and trends that- for better or worse- defined this annual cycle. Get ready for the inevitable onslaught of references to blurred twerking and if that's what you're looking forward to, then you'd best look elsewhere. No really, fuck that noise, it's a waste of time and space.

It's been a full year of a rock solid collaboration between High Voltage and WGBU-FM's radio show Dirty Glitter hosted by the fantasatical Brody Ramone. What began as an experimental hook-up every Thursday night (8pm PST/11pm EST) turned out to be a brilliant match because our goals just happened to be in perfect alignment: helping listeners find their new favorite band or artist. We're all about new music discovery that's worth getting excited about as opposed to pushing/promoting artists who are already established and on the map. Seriously, I love Queens of the Stone Age and Soundgarden as much as the next person, but they don't need a damned thing from me as far as coverage when Rolling Stone and NME are underfoot. It's the creative and diverse sonance being made underneath what is on the Top 40/Billboard charts, mostly by bands/artists who are still busting their asses at club shows, still hustling for your *Like* on Facebook, slinging their own merch and deserve to be heard. So we try and get you to hear them.

So here's the first in a series of recaps of the songs and artists that I personally selected for our High Voltage segments on Dirty Glitter w/ Brody Ramone this year.

November 21, 2013
The Record Company- "Baby I'm Broken"
We're paying a return visit to the Los Angeles blues/rock revivalists that High Voltage loves called the Record Company because Tuesday (Nov. 19th) brought a new EP from the trio called Feels So Good. By nature of the seasoned musicians that they are, Chris Vos, Marc Cazorla and Alex Stiff do fantastic work in honoring the old school but are finely adept at freshening it up and serving it new with hearty rock and soul. As is tradition with the blues, love is hard work so here's Chris wailing on his harmonica and guitar while Marc on drums and Alex on bass are the rhythm of trying to do right with "Baby I'm Broken."


Louis London- "We're Not Alone"
From Sydney, Australia we have the 5-piece pop/rock outfit, Louis London. Relatively young in band-years, Ed Saloman, Nick Ingall, Karl Fernandes, Jack O' Donnell and Jack Kiddell conceived Louis London in 2010. In 2012 their debut EP, On Your Lips We Roared, did just that with tracks like "Hardly Hear You" putting the band on the music radar in Australia with great song structures and Saloman's soaring and flexible vocal style. Their second EP called The Big Deep came out Nov. 11th and from that EP, here's "We're Not Alone."


Ceasefire- "Wake Up"
From Orange County, CA we have Ray Alexander (vocals), Kamren Alexander (guitar), Tristan Montgomery (bass) and Anthony Hainsworth (drums) of Ceasefire who are all about reaching and anthemic songs that move the head and the heart. They formed in 2011 and their music channels and even pays homage to 80s new wave, 90s arena rock and their wide stretch of influences that range from Joy Division to Oasis, Morrissey to Pink Floyd and the Cure to ELO. These guys are ambitious down to who they work with and earlier this year Ceasefire went into the studio to record their In The Dead of the Night EP with serious music muscle: Josh Mosser (Eminem, Imagine Dragons, Christina Aguilera) and Mark Needham (The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Neon Trees, Pink). Here's a track from the EP: "Wake Up."


October 31, 2013
MONA- "Cross The Line"
Mona aren't new; they've been around since 2007 but we don't feel like enough ears are aware of their goodness. A little 50's retro swagger, cigarettes, guitars blazing and some blue collar Mid-Western and gritty Southern attitude and charm, Nick Brown, Vince Gard, Zach Lindsey and Jordan Young sound like that band your mother warned you about but only because she knows how good bad boys can be: musically and otherwise. Now based in Nashville, the foursome throw down scorching and rugged rockers of honesty, then can flip to something gospel-touched or ballad pretty all carried by Nick's soaring vocals: The guy can sing. In July came their sophomore album, Torches & Pitchforks,  which speaks of the tug between good and evil and is a worthy addition to your 2013 record collection.

James Bay- "When We Were On Fire"
Most 22 year-olds don't have anywhere near the vocal command and presence as James Bay does but we're not complaining; he's from the UK and a singer-songwriter who creates a certain magic between him and his guitar. In the vein of a John Mayer or a Ray Lamontagne, the earthiness and expressiveness of James' voice along with his lyrics convey a sensual warmth. This track, "When We Were On Fire" is from his Dark of the Night EP which is a very stripped showcase of this young man's talent of which there is plenty of. He's toured with ZZ Ward, Beth Orton and even opened for the Rolling Stones. Keep an eye on this one.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for the next Dirty Glitter recap!
Signed,
Diary of a Concert Whore  aka @dharma69

Essentials: Irontom's "The Nitro EP" & Javier Dunn's "Trails"

EPs can be anything from the wanton disposal of excess musical baggage to a band marking their territory but without the peeing on things...because that would be gross. With that in mind, it seems that Irontom is relatively baggage-free and intend to be in your face for a while. Here is Harry Hayes, Zach Irons, Daniel Saslow, Dane Sandborg, and Dylan Williams following up 2012’s The Loose EP with recorded versions of four songs which they have been fleshing out and kicking audience asses with live for nearly a year now. Where The Loose EP was a sensory teaser, The Nitro EP is a ballsy, self-assured calling card.

“It’s not enough just to play anymore.”

Within the breadth and space of that one sentence (actually several sentences but we’re parsing for brevity) Hayes and his brothers-in-no-nonsense serve up a deceptively simple and eloquently contained cease and desist letter on musical bullshit with “What Will Happen To All The Indie Stars,” the lead off track as well as a damned good question (think about it: where are approximately 85% of 2012’s “buzz bands” and blogosphere darlings extolled as the best thing since maple bacon donuts? Exactly). Alain Johannes (Queens of the Stone Age, Eleven, Them Cooked Vultures) was tasked with producing The Nitro EP aka harnessing Irontom’s funky and bombastic nature. Not taming it, but making it discernible for ears familiar and unfamiliar with the assault these guys unleash live. Nitro dishes power and muscular punch song for song with significant sound detail: You can hear what each member brings to the plate and it’s something to pay attention to because Saslow’s churchy keys are just as fundamental as Irons’ aggressive guitar bravado is to the walls of sound that they create. Essentially Nitro is “controlled bold” supported by above average songwriting (dig into the distress of "Tinkerbell"), the craft of melody, hook and musicianship at an enviable level of skill, particularly considering the band’s collective and individual youth. Hayes walks a line between self-critical and analytical in the push and pull of “Boy Born” and the title track is an example of the art of building a refined blitzkrieg.
From Hayes’ agitated vibtato and world-class ability to shriek a full chorus then fall back on a coo, to the rugged rhythms of Sandborg and Williams, The Nitro EP is the capture of a band's lightening in a bottle (which you can release whenever you want) and an indie rock harbinger that Irontom is a bullshit-free zone.

Feel free to jump on the Irontom train. It's a sweet ride.

Here's the thing about Javier Dunn: He's really pretty.

I probably should've used my inside voice there, but this is why my internet name is "dharma." Another thing about Dunn is that for the past 10 years or so he has been something of a right-hand-man to songstress Sara Bareilles as her long-time touring guitarist and occasional collaborator. Great musical results have been the return on this partnership but there comes a time in every music man's life when he's got to pay attention to his own truth, whatever that truth may sound like.

Abandoning the role that he fashioned for himself as "merely" an acoustic singer/songwriter on the side, Dunn's truth now sounds like that shyly confident romantic storyteller with a Taylor guitar on open mic night getting his synth-washed sexy back and phone numbers on cocktail napkins. It's the sound of love and its potential, if not inevitable, pitfalls with an overlay of r&b groove and pop sense electronically tweaked, but gently so as never to become overbearing noise and lose the plot of a good song well sung. The focus of Trails (released on June 25th) is equally split among Dunn's vulnerable, carmel-toned voice, his lyrical gifts and the emotional textures evoked by each song's arrangements. From a tale of romancing via liquid courage ("Couple of Drinks") to a melancholy duet with Bareilles ("If You Go"), Dunn's done pretty well for himself in showcasing how hot a graceful coolness can be.

That and he's really pretty. Check out his new video for "Couple of Drinks."

Putting A Shine On Terraplane Sun's "Get Me Golden"

How can five music-making dudes who occupy space in the beachfront city of Venice, CA possibly go all south of the Mason-Dixon line-sound and blend it with California sun and soul without sounding- what’s the word- ridiculous? Yes, fricking ridiculous. Well, that’s Terraplane Sun for you. These guys are my guys: I  took ownership of them a long time ago (in the most platonic way possible) and am just shy of being able to claim them on my taxes.

Ben Rothbard (singer dude), Johnny Zambetti (guitar, mandolin and awesome hair), Cecil Campanaro (slapping da bass), Lyle Riddle (cool drummer, cool tats) and Gabe Feenberg (like...everything else, seriously) describe themselves as “blues indie rock folk dance soul”: their sound is a little vintage, a little timeless and a lot of awesome as they truly do flesh out blues, indie rock, folk, dance and soul with full blown musicality and a refined rawness that translates fantastically from record to their live show. So here's a song for you that will be on their brand spanking new EP coming out in June. The song: "Get Me Golden." The theme: going for the gold, silly.

Rothbard (or 'Ben' as I like to call him) was kind enough to sum up the song in his own words:

"Golden was written with the notion that if you want something, you gotta go and get it. One thing we've learned as a band and even just as individuals is that very little will fall in your lap and if it does, chances are it won't happen again. I've never been a fan of the lottery and have always been called crazy for saying that I'd give away all the money if I won it. It's always so much more rewarding if you earn what you get and really go after exactly what you want, whether it's love, a goal, a challenge etc...

The song itself was Motown inspired for sure. It's a dancer!"

And who doesn't like to dance? So you read these words, listened to the killer song, did the hand claps because it's a little irresistable and now you're all, "Holy shit, this band's a bucket full of awesome...if you could actually put awesome in a bucket, of course! Where/when can I get some of this live?"

Funny you should ask: if you happen to be in Los Angeles on Thursday 5/30 and attending the Imagine Dragons concert at the Hollywood Palladium, Terraplane Sun just happen to be the opening band so, BAM!, you're welcome. Otherwise, do your duty and stalk them in the usual places like their website, Facebook and Twitter in order to get in their business. They'd probably like that.

By the way, every Thursday night at 11pm EST/8pm PST High Voltage takes over the radio on Dirty Glitter w/ Brody Ramone on WBGU-FM in order to play three High Voltage-approved songs. Tune in this Thursday night and you'll hear Terraplane Sun getting some love.

South By Southwest-Watch: Track-By-Track With Irontom

The number of times that I’ve mentioned Irontom via Tweet, Facebook, email or face-to-face conversation probably cannot be counted but you should know that it is for cause: I happen to believe in this band. A five-piece out of Los Angeles, Harry Hayes (vox), Zach Irons (guitar), Dane Sandborg (bass), Daniel Saslow (keys) and Dyl Williams (drums) are, by my ear, a little too dynamic, too talented and too non-ordinary of a band to be ignored. It’s classic rock high on youth, fresh blood and swagger: unabashedly loud, dense and eclectic.

Two seminal events have and are about to happen: Irontom has released a 4-song EP (Loose) and they’re making their first trip to South By Southwest (SXSW) this week. This simply means that they now have recorded music to be judged by and that they’ll be before more eyes and ears than ever before. As Harry put it: “This is our first EP. We put it out basically to announce the existence of the band.”

Announcement, made. Each of those four songs has an individual killer rhythm, upheaval and instinct about it and apparently- with a full-length album on the way- it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Here’s introducing you to those four songs by way of Harry, himself.

1. “Mind My Halo”
This was one of the first songs we wrote as a band. Over the course of a week At Zach's grandma's house we wrote and recorded four songs. One of them was “Halo.” Dan came in with most of the chords on the Rhodes and then one night we sat in a circle and figured out all the rest. We all knew that we had something pretty decent with this one. The lyrics are about a guy turning towards religion as an answer to his lonely and empty feelings. The dude basically finds out that even though his new creed might've distracted him from his deep fears, it's all still there as plain as ever.

2. “My Brothers”
The song is about my two drug addict brothers. They've caused a ton of grief for my family over the past couple years. It's a pretty personal song and that's why it's sick.

 

3. “Goin’ Slow”
This is a song Zach and I wrote some time before the band. It was really easy to bring into the group and it's great live because Dan and Z get to solo and fly with the seagulls. It's a song about being too content with whatever's going on. And then getting into the habit of being stuck there. The day we recorded this one, Z had been drinking quite a bit more 4loko then he normally does. When we told him to slow down, he just said 'never tell me what to do'.

 

4. “Lady Got Me”
Another song Zach and I had written that we brought into the band. Z is playing drums on this recording as well. Zach and I wrote this with him jamming on drums and me on guitar. We wrote this song the year the band basically came together and I remember it exciting Dane and Dan to start working seriously with Zach and I. It seemed like a good one to include on the EP. Lyrically it's a song about trying to forget about a crazy old girlfriend.

Their current SXSW schedule looks like this but don't be surprised if more shows get added:

SXSW
Mar 12th @ The Jr (603 Red River St)
Mar 14th @ The Old School (401 E. 6th St)

Do-It-Yourself-ers, UK's fiN: "Life Is Wasted On The Living"

I like a good band who's got some serious DIY bones in them.

Cue this conversation about the UK's fiN and their quirky-ass moniker (for better or worse, in this respect we can place them right alongside fun.) Last year these guys gave us the MuteMath-ish (in a really good way) "Rapture," the opus "Everybody Dies Alone," as well as the notion to only make their music available on 7-inch vinyls with accompanying download codes. Now the lads are back stretching the search parameters of life and death with the single "Life Is Wasted On The Living" backed with "Lucky You" which was released on December 3rd.

There's much about "Life Is Wasted On The Living" that's familiar: a punchy intro, soaring chorus and the uplift of an anthem waiting to happen. Factor in the song being lyrically pointed at looking a gift horse in the mouth and you have a young band aiming to reach the head as well as the heart and that's never a bad thing.

Now this was worth talking about on a couple of levels, the first of which being that this is a good song from a good band. Good job, fiN.

The other is the active role that fiN is taking in controlling their music because there really ought to be more to the band/fan relationship than just making the music available for consumption and being done with it. fiN keeps making it personal because the music is not available through instant gratification methods. Fans can collect the band's vinyls the "old fashioned way" by buying them at shows or at an actual record store (the hell, you say?) and that purchase includes a digital download as well as additional goodies such as videos. The "Life is Wasted On The Living" single saw only 500 copies of itself printed and each pre-ordered copy is signed by the band members. Sure, the guys may end up with some hand cramps but that's a small price to pay for fostering a relationship with their fans.

Young bands, new bands, bands that just want to shake things up a bit, take note.

Wherever you are in the world, you can keep up with fiN in the usual places:
Official web
Facebook
Twitter