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Album Review: Funeral For A Friend - Memory And Humanity

  • Written by  Sam Dufton

By Sam Dufton

November 03, 2008

Don't tell anybody, but Funeral For A Friend have always been a bit of a guilty pleasure. Being young and in love with Franz Ferdinand I was always careful to save 'The Art Of American Football' for empty houses when no one could hear.

 

It was only my chagrin at being made to miss the White Stripes at Reading that made my disappointment at having to watch FFAF believable. Never really paying that much to the lyrics, it was the melodic riffs and building, catchy choruses on songs like 'Escape Artists Never Die' which acted as an attraction, as well as the striking imagery that accompanied it all. Then came Hours and gone were the epic song titles and fun, replaced by a band focused on meeting the expectations of their fans, rather than surprising and exciting people who'd never heard them. What followed was just bad, some heavy middle of the road stuff, emo Bon Jovi destined for a best driving music type compilation. When you start to listen to 'Memory and Humanity', this is thankfully laid to rest.

It takes 32 seconds for the album's first chorus to arrive, abrasive guitars, probably brilliantly over the top lyrics and then, 50 seconds later, there it is again. Exactly what you want from this band. No more synthy intros or borrowed ideas, but clever guitars well employed. I was all set to dismiss this but it's difficult to do. The first two tracks are definitely the best on here, and these still do not match up to much of 'Casually Dressed...', but the rest is far from the pale attempts that preceded it. There is an unfortunate lack of overlong titles to the tracklisting, but even something is rubbish as 'Kicking and Screaming beats All Hands on Deck Pt. 1: Raise The Sail' . The next couple of tracks don't carry a great deal of interest or innovation, following in the same vein to create tunes that sound good when turned up loud, with a few clever manoeuvres dotted around.

The lyrics fit the sound, and the fans, well. 'Constant Illuminations' starts by asking "Where's the emotion?" and the rest of the song rather than trying to find it seems to reaffirm that it's just not there. Other big questions posed include "What should I believe?" on 'You Can't See That' and ... Answers are not provided, keeping the whole thing open to interpretation allowing and allowing it to be taken very seriously as a considered piece of conceptual, thought-provoking art. Perhaps the words weren't meant for me; reading through them does cause a smile rather than a furrowed nod, but then maybe they were never really meant to be enjoyed in this manner. It can be quite difficult to discern the verses in musical format, the focus instead on the ripping guitars and yearning drums, vocals adding to the song more through Matt Davies' impressive voice.

Obligatory slow one 'Building' isn't particularly worthwhile, feeling more like an unnecessary break in play, though it is usefully short and not repeated. From there on it keeps a steady pace until the end, resisting the temptation to slow it down or do something a little too epic, with tracks you'll still want to jump around to and that will please the circle-pitters at their shows. There is no 'History' or 'Walk Away' here, but to focus on how much better this is than some of the last two albums is missing the point; five years on there is also no 'Red Is The New Black', understandable that it is that they would want to progress, until they match their early successes they'll always be a little disappointing. 'Memory And Humanity' carries a couple of fantastic tracks but it's just not quite as much fun as it used to be.

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