Further - Further!

Sat 27th Aug, 2005 in Music Reviews

There’s black and white…and then there’s a huge grey area in between. Now, unless you are an Olympic athlete or Hitler or something else extreme…grey is generally fine. Hell, the majority of the global population fall into this category. The problem with the grey area however, can be standing out.

Bringing my coloured metaphor back to the topic, Further are a band who probably deserve to do better than what they will achieve. They have an awesome live reputation and a strong fan base. On stage, their blistering style of rock is loud, tight and passionate. But like any band with a kick arse live rep, this can be hard to translate on record.

Making waves in the music scene in 2002 with their breakthrough album, Punkrockvampires, Sydney four piece Further present you with their second full length release. It’s almost self-titled with the addition of an exclamation mark at the end. Further! is energetic and dense, catchy yet experimental. With distorted guitars and thrashing drums, it’s classic punk rock style.

But punk these days is more than that, and Further have gone there too. The pop side of punk is subject to more melodic riffs, and harmonised vocal sections. Regular structure and lyrics are a little more adhered to in an all important radio airplay mission. For example in the first single lifted from the album, Wishlist. This track has a fantastic rocking riff that cuts in at the end of the chorus and really gets you moving. In fact, there are several great interchanging riffs in this song as well as swift pace changes that drive it to the end. And as I mentioned, the lyrics are notable if only for the description of human love and adoration being “solid gold”.

Which brings me to my next point… Further are genuine Australian punk. Delivered mostly in gruff vocal tones with a tendency to bust into screaming, there is a definite ockerness to this album. The inclusion of female backing vocals softens this in certain tracks such as Attack On Peril Isle, where the song slows down and closes with pop-laden harmonies. Also on the beginning of this track is another deviation from the expected delivery, with the secondary vocals being almost spoken and overlapping.

The twelve songs on this album are filled with intense chaotic oubursts and raw driving rhythms. With eight years of band history and a progression from their previous EPs and debut long player, Further! is a sonic barrage of noise complete with dense sound explosions. Yet there is still space to breath and experiment, and in fact some of the more impressive moments are the deviations in structure, and the diversity within the songs themselves.

And of course, it is this deflection from the norm which remains the essence of punk. Lyrically, Further talk about the genre and influences. The second last song, An Adolescent Punk With A Grudge talks about being “in debt to pioneering punks”, and how the emergence of new aspects of a movement can be so sought after and appreciated. But it’s a cycle where things keep moving and we often see the cup half empty rather than half full. The lyrics on the other tracks also look at issues of self-doubt, and reflect on past situations, personal relationships and human exchanges. There is an air of regret and loss which accompanies the often chaotic sound barrage, especially in tracks The Last Respect and Stuck In A Rut. There is also the familiar punk disregard for mainstream society, spoken directly in the second song Fools In Love with the chant-like chorus “your enemies are on the airwaves”.

The artwork on this disc is appropriately random and left field. Done in crayons, there are bizarre character drawings and child-like scribblings for the lyric pages. Notes of angst from the band members about the loss of equipment, and threats about theft, are amusing and direct.

As I said at the start, I’m not exactly sure where this album fits in to the grand scheme of things, but who really cares? From the songs to the production and artwork, Further have a relentless approach which I like. It may not be as memorable as their live presence but it is a damn fine effort. And if an eulogy by revered toastmaster and tributary Henry Black, is true, this may be the last hoorah by the band.