FFAF shot onto the scene more than five years ago with a clutch of songs that brought them to prominence as one of the best new bands around. ‘Casually Dressed…’ kind of captured the mood of a bunch of disaffected kids and it struck a chord with magazine covers, top 20 singles and sell out shows aplenty. I remember seeing them open the Lock Up stage at Leeds Festival around that time and the tent was full with 25 rows spilling out the back. Three gold albums later and they’re back with a huge ‘rock’ sound which will cement their standing, although I don’t think it will add too many new fans.
For me ‘Memory and Humanity’ is a bit bland and boring. It’s ‘big’ sounding with a few solid rock songs, but there’s something lacking. ‘Casually Dressed…’ had both choruses and hard hitting bits. ‘Hours’ toned things down and turned up the melodies. ‘Tales Don’t Tell Themselves’ kind of drifted into concept album realm and, while it spawned a couple of commercial hits, I don’t think it was that well received generally. I think this new record will do well, but not because it’s special. It reminds me of how Feeder went after their first couple of records where they toned it down, made everything sound much bigger and they ended up losing what made them good in the first place.
There are some good songs here. ‘Kicking and Screaming’ and ‘Rules and Games’ have huge singalongs and sound absolutely bleedin’ massive. They’d still nicely among the ‘Hours’ material and will be live belters I’m sure. But the problem I have with this record is that it doesn’t really go anywhere. I listen as an album and it’s mid-paced, no aggression…it all follows the same tempo and the same formula. And yes, it works, I’m aware of that…but it’s all a bit safe sounding. The riff and breakdown in ‘Constant Illuminations’ is one of the few special parts. The band of old took risks, they pushed everything as far as they could take it. Maybe with those extra years of experience you get older, perhaps even more comfortable in your own skin, and this is what happens.
And yes I know bands should move on and not repeat the sounds of albums gone by. But for me there’s something missing here. It’s good, sometimes great, but overall it lacks the bite and energy I once found seeping from every pore.