Further - Tactics (Album)
Further are a Sydney- based band who have been around for too long for me to remember, their music ranging from garage rock to new wave punk sort of stuff. It is really hard to describe unless you see it live and experience it for yourself. Their last few releases have been on Sydney based label Chatterbox Records and this release is no different. Their latest album is “Tactics”.
It has been 3 years since the last Further album, a little too long if you ask me. This is a really great band that should really keep pushing themselves on the local scene, which they seemed to have shied away from in recent years.
The new Further album starts immediately and suddenly with their eccentric brand of Sydney songwriting skills and sounds. This album does not ease you into their peculiar riffs and melodies but more throws you in the deep end. The production techniques on the album are all spot on, all instruments are crisp and great. The songs are all really guitar driven, supported by their very Australian vocals and lyrical themes. The song structures are kept simple but some of the noises they get from their instruments are one of a kind. The circling guitar tone is great, the bass keeps the bottom end going whilst the guitars wail over the top (this can be seen particularly in tracks like Bitter ‘n’ Rough)
This is not a pop album. There is not a track on here that I would expect to hear in the next hottest 100, but that is the beauty of it, this album does not need pop hooks to be complete. It carries itself well within the context of the music. Occasionally I believe some of the tracks overlap a bit too much the same ground, rather than branching out a bit more into new territory. But does that have to be a bad thing?
All songs are short and sweet, with no track reaching the three-minute mark. These are tracks you cannot possibly get bored of because after every listen you hear something new in the track that were not there the time before.
