Far-Less

Throughout their brief career, Far-Less have thrived on reinventing themselves, their roster and, without fail, their craft. That their A Toast To Bad Taste is a significant departure from 2006’s art damaged post-hardcore pin-up Everyone Is Out To Get Us isn’t surprising. But that the album is a collection of expansive and driving melodic dark rock that deserves real estate in mid-sized arenas? That is. Turns out that the shift to moodier, if more streamlined, rock suits Far-Less’s sound well. "I Hope That We Swim (Oceans)” is first-rate driving rock with just a pinch of prog. And while "Gentlemen (Not To Sleep)” approaches the melodrama of My Chemical Romance’s "I Don’t Love You,” it’s also just as undeniable. But Far-Less hit hardest on "A Surprise Funeral (For The Charmed),” a crystal piece of slow-developing loud/quiet rock stomp that marries their instinctive songwriting eccentricities with their direct new rock blast. It’s the most definitive proclamation of A Toast To Bad Taste’s excellence. Most impressively, it suggests that after five years of searching, Far-Less have found an identity they believe in.