A Static Lullaby

Item: Faso Latido
Author: Justin Carretta

Faso Latido

(2005)

Reviewed by Justin Carretta

Discogs Apple Music TIDAL Spotify YouTube Music

Label Columbia RecordsDecapolisMarch 2005

alternative rock emo post-hardcore

When a band signs to a major label (Columbia) and their first album on that label features a softer sound, there's one word that people are going to be saying. selllllllllllllllllout. And taking a peek at the message boards about this album, trust me, a lot of people are saying it.

Yet Faso Latido is a really good album. Instead of being a hardcore band with emo undertones, they've become more of a straight-ahead rock band with the hardcore elements mostly in the background (sometimes in the foreground, but far less often than in their debut), and this really works. They've evolved their songs to a great length here--sing-along choruses such as the ones on "Stand Up" and "Faso Latido" would have never appeared on ...And Don't Forget to Breathe. "Stand Up" in particular, is almost impossible to get out of your head, which is why it was the logical choice to be the first single.

The band's dynamic has really changed. For the most part, Joe Brown was the lead singer on the first record, while guitarist Dan Arnold and bassist Phil Pirrone did the melodic background vocals. Now there really isn't a lead singer, and the guitar work has become more complex and more intricate to the song's depth. Brown handles the more intense parts, and Pirrone and Arnold the softer parts, without any really overshadowing the others, just using the appropriate vocals when they're needed. They have more of a pop sensibility--that isn't to say that they've become a pop band, but the songs are more built around their choruses than they had been previously. They always did have the pop elements in their music, but now it is more at the center of the recordings.

When they put all the elements together flawlessly, they are able to maintain the intensity of their debut while keeping it catchy enough to sing along to. The best example of this is arguably the best track, "Radio Flyer's Last Journey," where they manage to cohesively go all over the musical map. The only problem is that they don't always put everything together for a whole track, although there really aren't any bad songs on Faso Latido.

So all the implications that A Static Lullaby are chasing after the cash are unwarranted. Just because a band has become more melodic doesn't necessarily mean that they're no longer as good. Sometimes, as is the case with Hopesfall's new CD, it's nowhere near as good as they used to be. Yet Underoath added a lot more emotion and put out one of the best CD's of 2004. So it has to be judged on a case by case basis. My question is now whether this affects their live show. I saw them twice in the Breathe period, and they were one of the best live bands I had ever seen, with amazing energy--do they lose some of that with their new sound? I doubt it, but with a good chance of mainstream success here, that live show will probably have a whole lot more people attending it.

3.5/4