Further Seems Forever -- The Moon Is Down

8/10

Chris Carrabba's singing can be a bit much to take. Over-dramatic doesn't even begin to describe it. If you like your male singers to sound like manly men, you are looking in the wrong place. Carrabba sounds like he is belting out songs next to a rainy window, gesticulating wildly with his hands. His vocals were the wall I found myself having to climb to enjoy Further Seems Forever's debut album, The Moon Is Down.
The best ladder with which to climb over that wall is the band's music. Actually, the guitar riffs on The Moon Is Down sound like ladders or spiraling staircases. Wow, I can already tell, this review is going to suck. Sorry, I guess. Anyway, the majority of The Moon Is Down rocks hard, but gets the job down in three-minute, chorus-heavy increments. The album's secret weapon is drummer, Steve Kleisath. He plays a style best described as "active." Kleisath plays fills for much of the album, still keeping perfect time and beat. His constant drum rolls never grow tiring, but consistently carry The Moon Is Down to its conclusion.
Past this musical hook, The Moon Is Down has an even more obvious secret weapon, one I've already mentioned as a detriment: Carrabba, himself. Once one gets used to his style of...singing, his voice grows less distracting. As Carrabba had already started his new main gig, Dashboard Confessional, by the time of The Moon Is Down's recording, he now had an alternate outlet for his weepier tendencies. Here's a pointless bunny trail, since this review is already terrible:
In mid-2001, an acquaintance of mine raved to me about how much fun he had just had at a Dashboard Confessional show.
"It was great!" he insisted. "It was like one big sing-along, and everyone had their hands on each other's shoulders."
"Wow," I said. "That sounds awful."
Anyway, Carrabba, now having an outlet for his whinier, weepier tendencies with Dashboard Confessional, keeps that stuff to a minimum on Further Seems Forever's The Moon is Down. In fact, The Moon Is Down version of Carrabba sounds like he is smiling and winking through most of the album, adding an infectious charisma to The Moon Is Down that truthfully makes it irresistible. I can't count how many ridiculous car sing-alongs friends and I have had with this old scratched up CD. Car sing-alongs are far superior to the previously mentioned shoulder-holding sing-alongs because no one is touching or crying. Whelp, I think that's about it.


2001 Tooth & Nail Records
1. The Moon Is Down 3:12
2. The Bradley 3:01
3. Snowbirds and Townies 4:26
4. Monachetti 2:42
5. Madison Prep 2:54
6. New Year's Project 4:14
7. Just Until Sundown 3:14
8. Pictures of Shorelines 3:12
9. Wearing Thin 2:59
10. A New Desert Life 8:52