Face to Face
(A&M)
by Austin Nash
Have received copy of Face to Face – STOP – Have run de-encryption application provided by Red Sparrow revealing subfile 2rq-5000 – STOP – ***STATUS: Massachusetts, I think*** Eliminated prior operatives – STOP – Am initiating attack plan: THUNDERCLAW – STOP – Finality: All proceeding according to plan. Exactly to plan… out…
Sometimes it’s hard to believe the adventures I have by myself. Adventure is what music should be all about and Face to Face is like fucking the Valkyries on a pillage to Valhalla or shooting down an Albatross with farts. Face to Face claims Southern California as home and boasts an impressive record of achievement. Their first two releases, Don’t Turn Away and Big Choice, were originally released on an unmentioned label and later picked up by Fat Mike of Fat Wreck Chords and NOFX fame after some mutual gigging around the Orange County area. Says drummer Rob Kurth, “The album was on another label with poor distribution and promotion, so we upgraded to Fat Wreck Chords.” Big Choice has now sold more than 100,000 copies to date in the U.S.
The new self-titled release, very representative of Los Angeles punk/rock, is receiving mysterious unsolicited airplay prior to the release of its compilations, and is selling out venues across the region. They are known for their fantastically energetic live shows and humor. Publicists across several time zones agree unanimously that Face to Face has more fun on stage than any other band. For those in Lollipop‘s home town of Boston, Face to Face will be appearing at the Paradise Theater on October 21. Fuck. All the good bands seem to show up on a Monday.
Face to Face jumps right in with “Resignation,” reeking of bar chord overload very reminiscent of Black Flag and Bad Religion (the most-often-compared-to band in the history of rock). The vocal harmonies carry me back to the early ’80s and old Agent Orange. Face to Face is like watching a locomotive coming at you over a range of mountains. Each song begins similarly, ends similarly, and never fails to pump up and head over the top only to come steaming down in a whirl of harsh, irrational minstrelsy. The emotions and power generated by vocalist Trevor Keith are both angry and real. Every song makes me want to smash glass.
Face to Face is an emblematic icon of purity. By this I mean that there is an air of unambiguous finality to their music. They present themselves like a river splitting a continent; the trunk running up through the branches of a great Sequoia; a 125 million volt bolt of lightning fracturing a wintery afternoon sky. Titles like “I Won’t Lie Down” (the hit single), “Everything’s Your Fault,” and “Put You In Your Place,” leave nothing to the imagination. They tell and don’t listen or ask.
Face to Face is a very prolific, focused, and consistently excellent band. They’ve formed their own independent label, Lady Luck, retaining distribution through Vagrant Records. Available on this label,by mail order only, are a six song EP entitled Econo Live, and the new self-titled debut face to face on vinyl.
