What does the packaging and presentation of an album say about the music contained on it? Common wisdom has always upheld that one should never judge a book by its' cover but, when you're unfamiliar with an artist, what else is there to go on at first? The fact is that the cover of an album can speak volumes and draw a multitude of images to mind before a single note of music is heard. That's a significant power – so while it might not be right to judge an album by its cover, it can be a damned important part of the experience.
With the assertion that its cover can at least be an important (if not essential) part of the first time one experiences an album in hand, what does the cover of 1977 – They Had Faces Then's new EP – say? The following is a description of the CD and my experience with it when it arrived on my doorstep:
As it would turn out when I carefully put the CD into my player (I don't know what the care was for – CDs are pretty close to indestructible unless grossly mishandled, but it seemed right to do so somehow), I'd discover that all of my first impressions of it were correct in all the right ways. 1977 is indeed a very special record.
There's a certain fatigued beauty in the descending minor key riff which opens “Carter (Daniel, You See?)” which recalls the last days of the alt-rock craze in the mid-Nineties; as things wound down, bands like Soul Asylum, Cracker, Limb Lifter, Flaming Lips (before they discovered their own bizarre utopia) and Local H were all playing resigned but dissonant laments just like this but, unlike this (and this will keep listeners from falling asleep) drummer is able to set up a a fatigued sort of march that sits perfectly with Ken De Poto's resigned, fatigued vocals and so really set a scene that compliments the first impression left by the album cover as well as baiting listeners to keep following the music; there's bait left in “Carter” which implies They Had Faces Then has something great to impart.
Those who picked up on the impression that something exciting is going to happen after “Carter” are rewarded right away by “Something About Water.” Listeners can almost hear the tumblers fall into place as the song lays out a startlingly articulate and beautiful story about love under the late night waterside lights. De Poto's really feeling this – it's easy to wonder if these images happened anywhere other than in his mind – and he makes listeners a little weak in the knees as he goes and as the last tumbler falls at the 58-second mark and the band just explodes, listeners will be bowled over/overcome/gobsmacked/head-kissed by a flaming tongue; it's an incredible sensation and will most definitely make a fan of anyone who hears it. It is a defining moment for the band and a key one in the run-time of the EP.
From there, They Had Faces Then does scale back the bombast a bit but the excitement's out there and really pushes the remaining five songs of the EP up a few notches. “You Without Teeth” will send chills through listeners as they try to decide if the song is meant to be violent, menacing, heartfelt or cathartic and, before they've managed to figure that out, “Anchors” swaggers out and pulls listeners to an introspective place to rest and relax for about four minutes. Here, DePoto shows a more reflective and compassionate side as he hums and murmurs to listeners to soothe frayed nerves. It's a great foil for “Something About Water” too.
Listeners will already feel like they've run a gamut of hard emotional turns with the band by the time “Anchors” fades out but the band still has more of both ends of the spectrum to run between before they go. “You Shepherd” runs back to the more frenetic end of the band's spectrum before “Pretty, Ugly People” consoles those shattered synapses again before the clouds over the closer, “Song 45,” get their darkest. To be fair, each of these last three tracks plays well and each is a strong enough song, but the surprise comes from the fact that this untested band has managed to get listeners so engaged and run them so hard, and in just an EP's amount of time! As soon as listeners make that realization, they'll want to listen to it again and see if they can find more of this band to absorb – be it on disc, online or on stage. One has to respect the rarity in that; the sort of wild excitement that They Had Faces Then manages to generate with what looks like a homemade and beat-up seven-song EP doesn't just happen every day, this is truly special. Listen for yourself – and don't be surprised when They Had Faces Then becomes a household name in the near future.
Artist:
www.theyhadfacesthen.bandcamp.com/
www.myspace.com/theyhadfacesthen
www.facebook.com/theyhadfacesthen
www.twitter.com/THFTmusic
Album:
1977 is out now. Physical copies are available at the group's bandcamp page or at shows, or buy the mp3s directly from the band here .
