Review Summary: An artist at another crossroads proves that he still has some ideas to offer and builds an inconsistent album around them.
Christian Fitness is the (sort-of-) solo project by
Future of the Left’s eccentric frontman, Andy Falkous.
Love Letters in the Age of Steam treads ground that should be familiar enough for fans of Andy that are aware of his past works, but it’s also got a couple of natural evolutions that have been a long time coming. The album has a somewhat unfortunate tendency that is common for artist’s of Falkous’s caliber in that it exists in a state of simultaneous progression and regression.
The release starts in a comfortable place with an opener that has Future-of-the-Left-esques a plenty. As the arena noise rock’s chorus chants “you’re probably next”, a very energetic, but stiff guitar lick plods things along, and the vocals work their way up to bloody murder levels. The next song, “All Ghost’s to the Medicine Counter Four’s” riff sounds like a noise rock answer to “About a Girl” by
Nirvana. After that, the album makes its first obvious misstep with “Middleyurt” in which we’re given a song that tries its best to be chaotic and shocking with Falco repeating near jibberish that alternates between squeaky mumbling and screaming at the top of his lungs. As the guitar strums more and more frantically, drums pop in and out, but it feels so calculated and planned that it negates its desire for chaos. Pair this with its short length and it becomes 100% filler. While there are not any more examples of pure filler material on the album, this tendency unfortunately does not die out here. Many more moments to follow give a similar feel of a sort of failed attempt at recapturing glory. It’s not to say that the album has nothing fresh to offer, but it does not come from Falco’s reheated, noisy leftovers.
Lyrically, the album lives up to Falco’s gold standard, and even sees a bit of continued sharpening. He still offers his almost trademarked harsh life truths, and socially relevant jabs through a screen of top tier satirical humor. The Good Sword which begins with a fairly new experimental habit that Falco has been toying with of numerous layered riffs sees a good example of a brilliant Falco-ism. Over a simultaneously bouncy and dark riff, he sings “Meet with your darkest fears. Lie with them in their dead dimensions. Everything should be happening now.” Its cryptic nature gives it a few interpretations. From one angle it could be seen as a sarcastic view of a generation that feels everything should be immediate and will put themselves in unnecessary danger to make what they want happen faster. From another angle, it could be a positive outlook that says your darkest fears are indeed dead and it’s time to move on.
What finally steals the album though are the poppier, slower ballads. “Standard Issue Grief”, “The Harder it Hits”, and “The Psychic Reader” stand taller than their peer songs. The latter two even give into a synth pop flavor that is done in a surprisingly expert fashion. Falco has on more than one occasion played with this style in certain
Future of the Left songs as in “Beneath the Waves an Ocean”, “French Lessons”, and “Hey Precious”. All of these songs slowly revealed to the listener that Falco has a sensitive side that has just as much to say as his sarcastic, angry, and loud side. In fact, these songs prove themselves to be highlights of FOTL’s discography. On
Love Letters in the Age of Steam, Falco proves that his artistic future depends on songs like “ The Psychic Reader”. It’s a side of himself that he absolutely has to show more of, because there is more to show. His anthemic style of noise rock has served him well thus far, but it is beginning to wear thin. However, he
clearly has more to offer. This release itself has plenty to offer, but it is too comfortable in too many spots. The points at which it challenges Falco’s musical sensibilities is where it shines and these moments should be much more frequent.
