2010 seems like it was ages ago musically, and remembering
what those 365 days had to offer isn’t so easy even though fewer than two years
have passed. There aren’t many sonic
events that stick out in my mind from 2010, but one thing is certain, it was
first time I heard Fang Island. As the
band said of their sound it was ‘everyone high-fiving everyone’, and the
relentless assault of guitars and drums delivered the goods. It was a devastating record in a very
positive way, putting the pedal to the metal from the outset and never letting
up. So after making such a definitive
first step the Providence, RI natives, named for an Onion article about Donald Rumsfeld’s fictional lair, had a tall
order on their sophomore LP Major.
Some things have remained much the same for the trio this
time around. The guitar riffs are still
powered by jet fuel and they’re instantly memorable. Fang Island have a knack for taking the
wailing, indulgent solos that were commonplace when Poison and Mötley Crüe
ruled the airwaves, and distilling them into easily listenable, hard hitting
pop jams.
The big difference with Major,
as opposed to the band’s debut, is the movement towards a more prog/math rock
sound. Whereas their debut promised and
delivered ‘nothing but your favorite hooks back to back’, this time around
everything has gotten quieter. Two years
ago this was a band all about the surge of adrenaline that unhinged rock ‘n’
roll can provide, but here it just seems pedestrian. Take for instance the gentle synths of
opening track ‘Kindergarten’, or the long buildup of ‘Make Me’ which never
leads to any payoff. Fang Island isn’t
as punishing on Major, and that is a
shame.
The few bright spots of the record, ‘Regalia’ and ‘Asunder’
mostly, aren’t enough to save things.
Unfortunately the sophomore slump seems to have struck Fang Island. A couple of years ago their potential seemed
as limitless as their musical scope, but now, that’s not so true. After a debut that launched them into the
stratosphere Fang Island have come back to Earth.
Grade: C
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