Farse - Boxing Clever
Released: 2002 (MoonSkaEurope)
Band:
Ollie - Vocals
Ade - Guitar
Tomas - Guitar
Dan - Drums
Cris - Bass
Tracklist:
1. When The Laughter Stops
2. Hopskotch
3. Broken Record
4. Wishful Thinking
5. Memories Of Now
6. Once Was A Rose
7. Seconds Out
8. Superficial Guy
9. Eggs Is Eggs
10. Wither
11. Cigarette Through Polystyrene
12. Chip Mammy
13. The Silence
Background Info:
Farse, a group of school friends who wanted to make music crossing many genres, worked hard gigging and doing support slots across the country before eventually recording a debut album in 2001 called 'Means to an End' before supporting [Spunge] on a UK tour. They then came back to the studio to record their second and final album 'Boxing Clever'.
Review:
Farse had many influences as a band, ranging from ska (obviously), to the heavier genres of Emo and Metal including legendary bands such as Iron Maiden, and this shines through in this stunner of a second, and unfortunately last album, by them.
The classic ska riffs in songs such as ‘Hopskotch’ and ‘Eggs is Eggs’, followed up by the heavier hitting ones, making each song as diverse as the next. But as well as being highly upbeat Farse can produce some amazingly delicate songs and ‘Once Was A Rose’ is a perfect example of this.
Another point that stands out is the fact the musicianship is also of a high class, each member seems to know their instrument very well. The drumming, for example, is very very good, Dan’s use of fills and use of his kit as a whole is amazing on record and I imagine is quite the site live too. The vocals also stand out, Ollie’s use of rolling his words in ‘Hopskotch’ and his strained sounded voice make this record stand out even more from other bands.
The only negative thing I would say about this album is it may become repetitive, especially if you don’t like Farse a lot. Many of the thirteen songs seems to use the same thinking of light ska to start off with and then explode into heavy-mode then drop back down again and once more explode.
However I do personally love this album, every song fits in it’s place and the upbeat energy and passion in this album is what music should be about.
I don’t like to classify bands, so when I find a band like Farse who are very hard to classify and produce records like ‘Boxing Clever’ and their debut ‘Means To An End’ makes me happy knowing that bands out there are trying something new and doing it well. This is an album worth buying whatever you like and it will stand out forever in your record collection. Farse ended on a high note.
4/5
