Spartan (2021, Reissue)
I feel like all I've been doing this year is buying reissues of old albums. It's been dire for new releases in 2021, but I guess I can take solace in the fact that I've certainly not bought less records than I usually do. This one isn't even a record I had originally planned on buying. My buddy Scott hipped me to The Farewell Bend, who are a band that I'm not even positive I had ever heard the name of before, for whatever reason. Even more curious is that it's a band fronted by Brandon Butler and also featuring John Rejba, who were both in Boys Life.
I am very familiar with Boys Life, particularly their excellent Departures and Landfalls album, so I was surprised that this wasn't on my radar back when it originally came out. I'm definitely making up for lost time since I picked up this LP. While there are some touchstones that are similar to what you'd hear in Boys Life, in general The Farewell Bend rocks a lot harder. Their songs are catchier and a bit more traditional in structure, but I would never say they really dive too deep into pop territory.
What you have here is a record that mixes up a little punk rock, some of those midwestern emo vibes, a dash of indie rock and a little bit of that Jawbox/DeSoto flair to churn out an album that I really dig. In fact, I think that I'm actually in a much better place to appreciate this record now than I would have been in 1998. I've listened to so much more music now than I had then and I think my tastes, while still probably annoying narrow to some, are much broader than they were back then. This is a great record and one I'm stoked that Scott gave me the heads up on.
The Farewell Bend - In Passing:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mZlBZM6r4WSzcH3v2W-baHzgpEXnOs0Yo
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