Antiquiet
  • AQ Podcast
  • Interviews
  • AQ Sessions
  • Reviews
  • Miscellaneous
Reviews

Far Returns Triumphantly With ‘At Night We Live’

By Johnny Firecloud @@JohnnyFirecloud · On April 26, 2010
FarJonah MatrangaShaun Lopez

After more than a decade of insisting it would never happen, post-hardcore legends Far have reunited for a new album, At Night We Live, out May 18 via Vagrant.

The decision to reignite the fire they put out in 1998 arose from a few conversations in guitarist Shaun Lopez’s backyard, and a few messy rehearsals that reminded the guys how much they enjoyed actually playing together, bringing the soundscapes they’d created to life.

It wasn’t a contrived boardroom decision. There was no label, no publicity, no management team. The initial plan was to play a few shows, hit a few festivals and have fun. They even recorded a hilarious cover of Ginuwine’s Pony, just for the hell of it. But then that little joke song got noticed. And then it exploded, and all hell broke loose.

Inspired and confused by the maniacal enthusiasm for the song, the idea of a full-fledged reunion started bouncing around in conversation. Lopez began sending frontman Jonah Matranga a few demos to work on, and between a handful of casual shows, trips to Lopez’s studio in Los Angeles were made. After several months and thousands of miles, At Night We Live was completed.

First impressions are deceptive with At Night We Live, as opener Deafening is among the most brooding and aggressive tracks on the album. It’s an anthemic, blasting declaration of return, with an alternating soaring/roaring chorus over a menacing, percussive beehive riff.

Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.

The muscle facade immediately gives way on If You Cared Enough, with a chorus like War-era U2 and Monster-days REM thrown in a blender. As evidenced here, the album quickly proves itself to be a beautifully-produced and logical next step for a band with a new perspective & motivation after a (very) long hiatus. There’s no posturing or pandering, but rather a delicately melodic offering with dynamic arrangement and impressive pop sensibility.

With a bare, earnest heart and gravitational catchiness, Give Me A Reason is reminder enough that arena bands like Jimmy Eat World and 30 Seconds To Mars should be opening for Far. The same can be said for Burns, a so-sad-to-let-you-go wringing of the heart – in a spiteful sort of way. “It left me so jaded, unhappy, all complicated”… if anyone you know ever tries to discredit Far as pioneering torch-bearers of emo, play them this song.

The dream-epic title track At Night We Live does more than casually nod to the Deftones’ gorgeous dark-melody style with an aching radiance – the song is directly connected to their bassist Chi Cheng, who was left incapacitated after a 2008 car accident and is still struggling to make a return to normalcy. (Watch a beautiful acoustic version of the track.)

“I had a dream about Chi,” Jonah recalls. “I had to visit him a few times, so I am sure he is a part of it. He looks really good, well kept, sitting up in a chair device. His eyes are open and I can look directly into them, but they don’t react. He is there but we don’t know how to get in touch with him. In the dream, the remarkable thing I remember is his eyes. Shaun’s sister died a while back and I thinking of her, as much as this is for and about Chi, the idea of that central hook, ‘Daytime we’re dead, at night we live.’ If people are gone, that dream was as real as anything. I felt like hanging out with Chi. Who’s to say I wasn’t?”

The most prominent callback to Far’s signature ’90s sound is Fight Song #16,233,241, with bouncing blasts and punk gang vocals recorded by dozens of people around the world and submitted via the internet. Equally punchy Dear Enemy is likely the biggest radio contender on the record, a mildly sneering elbow to the ribs that leads into a gorgeously dissonant chorus with a cascading melody. The simmering mix of affection and animosity in Jonah’s voice is anything but inauthentic; the song was finished after an epic fight between he and Lopez.

The Ghost That Kept on Haunting runs nearly eight minutes in length, a sweeping, reflective take on longing for the lost that serves as a sort of hybrid between Nine Inch Nails and Band Of Horses. The first song Lopez wrote for the album, it breaks into a full gallop a minute and a half in but remains on a different exploratory angle than the other tracks.

“I was being selfish and wanted to write what I wanted to write,”  Lopez explained about the song. “I never thought Jonah would sing over this. I’m into this band M83 and the feeling they give me and I wanted to get that into a song.”

With more than a few radio-friendly tracks that appeal to modern markets, it’s a safe prediction that At Night We Live will part the clouds and bring due attention to these revived legends. There’s no punchy Mother Mary anchor to launch a mass consensus, and that’s a good thing. There aren’t any sale-trick gimmicks here – this is a band that preceded the hyperbolic scene divisions, and their undeniable influence on various facets of today’s music scene allows them to effortlessly transcend the genre boxes.

It’s promising enough that At Night We Live is an accessible album for the historically unaware, but fans of Far will find a familiar home with a release that’s a calmly confident, passionate and powerful return to the sound we knew so long ago.

Find out more & preorder at the official Far site. Also check out our live review & Far interview.

Far Returns Triumphantly With ‘At Night We Live’
Johnny Firecloud
April 26, 2010
4/10
Reviews published prior to February 23, 2015 used a 1-5 star rating system.
4 Overall Score
4/5

Reviews published prior to February 23, 2015 used a 1-5 star rating system.

FarJonah MatrangaShaun Lopez
Share Tweet

Johnny Firecloud

Johnny Firecloud has been in the fight since his first interview in 2001 with A Perfect Circle, 6 years before starting AQ with Kevin Cogill. He was music editor/senior writer at Mandatory for the last 10 years.

You Might Also Like

  • Reviews

    Green Day Warms Up in Tulsa

  • AQ Podcast

    AQ Podcast #58: Foo Fighters ‘Medicine at Midnight’ Review

  • Reviews

    Pearl Jam Return With Light and Fire on ‘Gigaton’

Oh, We Social

Follow @antiquiet

Antiquiet Podcast

  • Robot Nirvana & The Decline of Rock

    April 7, 2021
  • Eric Johnson: Tour Manager to Metallica, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden & More

    March 16, 2021
  • The 10 Best Albums Turning 10 This Year

    February 18, 2021
  • 3

    AQ Podcast #58: Foo Fighters ‘Medicine at Midnight’ Review

    February 8, 2021
  • Antiquiet’s Album of 2020

    December 8, 2020
  • AQP55: Fiona Apple, Together At Home, Corona Bug Chasers

    April 20, 2020
  • AQ Podcast #53: Pearl Jam Fan Life Pt. 2 (2003-2020)

    March 13, 2020
  • Antiquiet Sticker

    AQ Podcast #52: When Heroes Become Assholes

    February 10, 2020
  • Review: Desert Sessions vol. 11 & 12 (Antiquiet Podcast #50)

    October 24, 2019
  • Interview: Dennis Lyxzén of Refused talks ‘War Music’ (Antiquiet Podcast #49)

    October 18, 2019

Fresh Posts

  • Green Day Warms Up in Tulsa

    July 21, 2021
  • Watch Radiohead’s Yorke + Greenwood Debut The Smile

    May 23, 2021
  • Listen: ‘McCartney III Imagined’ Arrives With Beck, Homme, Bridgers, Albarn + More

    April 16, 2021
  • Robot Nirvana & The Decline of Rock

    April 7, 2021
  • Bonnaroo 2021 is ON: Foo Fighters, Run The Jewels, Tame Impala Lead Lineup

    March 31, 2021
  • Pearl Jam Push Euro Tour Plans to 2022

    March 30, 2021

Antiquiet Sessions

  • Dead Heavens Bring Antiquiet Sessions Back to Swing House

    March 8, 2016
  • Wade Into the Jellyfish Pool for Omniflux’ Antiquiet Session

    January 21, 2016
  • All Hands On Deck for Doomtree’s AQ Session

    January 12, 2016
  • Death Valley Girls Turn a Rainy SXSW Day Into a Garage Punk Kegger

    November 27, 2015
  • Heads Roll for Antiquiet Session #25 with Local H

    November 11, 2015
  • B. Dolan & Company Storm SXSW for a Session & Pizza

    October 13, 2015

Russia-Approved Social Media

All Sections

  • AQ Sessions
    • Download Sessions
  • Premieres
  • Studio Reports
  • Tour Dates
  • Festivals
  • Free Shit
  • Reviews
    • Shows
    • Retro
  • Interviews
  • AQ University
  • Miscellaneous
    • The Truth
    • Blogs
    • Movies
    • Funny
    • STFU
    • Lists
    • Mixtapes

Brought To You By

  • AQ Sessions
    • Download Sessions
  • Premieres
  • Studio Reports
  • Tour Dates
  • Festivals
  • Free Shit
  • Reviews
    • Shows
    • Retro
  • Interviews
  • AQ University
  • Miscellaneous
    • The Truth
    • Blogs
    • Movies
    • Funny
    • STFU
    • Lists
    • Mixtapes

© 2007-2016 Antiquiet, Inc.