I’ll be blunt – I think this is really, really disappointing. I can’t say I’ve ever loved Furthest Drive Home like their one of my children, but they’ve always shown they’ve an ear for a melody and that they were on the right lines. So you can forgive me for saying, in my opinion, ‘The Complete First Series’ is two steps back from where they were previously. I’d heard reports the band weren’t too hot live and the six songs here are so massively over-produced there’s no way they could ever replicate the sound live without either five guitarists or a backing track. The sheen on these songs loses any kind of emotion, stripping the songs of a vital edge they had previously. And that’s not the only fault I’ve picked out.
Starting from the top, the vocals are way too high in the mix for me. It’s too clean sounding and the guitars just pale into insignificance in the background. I’m no production expert, but when you listen to a good pop-punk record you expect bouncy guitar riffs to grab you by the balls from the word go. Listen to Fall Out Boy‘s ‘TTTYG’ or NFG’s self-titled album for riffs that knock you out. FDH sound sparse in the guitar riff department. There’s no knockout blow from the guitars and there’s no bass. And for anyone saying you can’t compare those two records to this in terms of budget – this EP was mastered at Abbey Road. Yes, THE Abbey Road. As a result, the record sounds super-slick but has no lasting impact. ‘Diamond Watch’ has a catchy chorus but is otherwise very forgettable – fashionable dance sample bits aside which scream of ‘we’re only placed here to cash in on a trend’, as they’re so completely unneccesary.
‘Directors Cut’ is the best song here by a country mile. It’s interesting, the vocal arrangements are clever and it stands out a mile. Pop-punk is a genre that became over-saturated ages ago and if you’re not different and/or catchy you won’t stand out. Sadly for FDH this is the only place where they sound like genuine contenders. ‘Holly’ is just plain and dull, while ‘Tower Over The Tallest’ just lacks something to make it stand out.
With friends ‘in the know’ and a large myspace following it’s undoubted FDH will be playing larger venues and possibly lauded as the next big thing by the usual suspects, but I believe this is poor in comparison to some of their earlier work. When they concentrated on writing catchy singalong sounds – maybe slightly akin to helloGoodbye – they were more fun. I don’t know, this just lacks the fun aspect I previously enjoyed and ends up a bit of a disappointment.