Bleach

Item: Farewell Old Friends
Author: Jonathan Avants

Farewell Old Friends

(2005)

Reviewed by Jonathan Avants

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Label Tooth & Nail RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2005

alternative rock emo modern rock power pop

It's been several months since Bleach officially called it quits, but the band promised fans they'd deliver one last record--a final goodbye, so to speak--but wouldn't tour in support of the record. Months pass, and not much seems to take place in the Bleach camp. But while all seems relatively quiet on the Bleach front, the band is actually working hard in the studio. A release date is finally given, March rolls in, and there it is: Bleach's final record, Farewell Old Friends. And boy, what a record it is! Bleach has always released decent to good records, but never, ever before has the band been THIS good.

That isn't to say that Bleach's previous efforts were bad; Astronomy was a mostly gorgeous pop/rock effort, and Again, for the First Time was a fun pop/punk release. But if I were to count the ways that Farewell Old Friends is better than anything else Bleach has done, I'd have to count all my fingers, take off my shoes, count my toes, call a friend over, count his fingers, take off his shoes and count his toes . . . you get the picture. There's better production--the drums are LOUD, Davy's singing is clear and in the forefront, the song order (yes, it is important) is more intelligently arranged, and everything sounds tighter yet not overly slick. There's better song writing--the riffs are more memorable, the hooks are--er--hookier, the composition interesting and full of surprises, the lyrics, though still primarily about relationships and God, are even more sincere and often downright heartbreaking in the imagery and effective, truly moving emotion they bring forth.

But in no way is Farewell Old Friends only commendable simply because it's better than Bleach's other works; it's sincerely a great rock disc, period. From the opening, pop/punkish song and on through a mix of ten excellent tracks, this project is fresh and variable from start to finish. The pacing is perfect--the faster tracks kick things up at all the right moments, the quieter tracks slow things down for affecting melodies, and the many quirky and more epic moments are interspersed excellently. "Clear the Air"'s opening riff and groovy chorus will make you rip your ears off; "To the Top"'s raucous rhythm and lyrics feels similar to the material from Again, for the First Time, but with a few more years' worth of experience reflected in the songwriting. The seventh and eighth songs feature (gasp!) worship--done right; "Sufficient" opens and (it seems at first) closes with a relatively gently paced tempo, much of the chorus carried only by Davy's lone voice, with a Christa Joy Black providing a Pretty Voice to back up the man. Four minutes slip by, and everything quiets down, with a bit of fuzz lingering out a bit longer than usual--and right when the song should end, the lone guitar line in the bridge from "Knocked Out" kicks in, the drums start back up, Davy gets back to the singing--"I'm not knocked out / I'm not knocked out / save me from this. . . ." Everything continues to build, and for the next seven straight minutes there is, by God, absolutely no stopping them. Things only slow down once the song hits the nine minute mark, the music drawing out to the very last, quietest note. The song finally ends with Davy's drawling, exhausted, broken voice barely singing, mostly saying "I'm at the bottom / of this world / save me / save me / Jesus / name above. . . / Jesus. . ." and it's over. Now that's a worship song!

Song eight--the other worship track--acts almost like a breather from its epic forerunner, but is much more than a basic worship song--"there's no second chance to fix what went wrong / and we are just lost here / and there is no path now that you're gone / and there is no map that can show us the way / so we can move on. . . hallelujah, this is not our home." Tied thematically with the title track, it explains the image of the whole disc. And as just mentioned, the record closes with the title track--a swan song, a gorgeous, cradle-rocking melody and lyrics. "Farewell old friends / this has been the best it could've been / farewell old friends / and we won't forget / the times we spent / as for me and my countrymen / we are headed out to sea / and there is no way that this is the end for them or for me. . ." It's one of the most moving finales I've seen or heard in any form of entertainment in years.

The record is always changing, always luring in the listener with a good melody and/or catchy riff, then pulling out the stops with a surprise ending or complete mix up in the composition of the song that often completely alters the tone of the track. Critics who have called Bleach a "cheerleader" or "youth-group only" band simply can't do so here--the music is more mature, more experienced than anything the band has previously done.

Bleach bows out in the finest way imaginable--by delivering the best record of its career. There's simply nothing more we could ask.

4.5 tocks