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Press for Monomyth - release date 11.24.09
"the Chapel Hill, N.C., trio has managed to take its misfortunes and turn them into something beautiful with just-released third album Monomyth (Lovitt). Opening track “Magnetic North” is dark and hypnotic, slowly brewing into distorted chaos that lives up to the album’s title, a reference to the mythical narrative of “the hero’s journey.”
-MagnetMagazine.com
In the world we live in there is a great abundance of music; from the kind that will put you to a silent sleep and comfortable slumber to the type that will rip your face off if you look at it the wrong way. Monomyth, the newest album from dreamy post-rockers Fin Fang Foom, is liable to do both if you give it a chance.
-Fazer Magazine
"More testament than revelation, Monomyth thrives on such survivalist moments. "Exploding Coast" adds an Isis-like metallic tenacity to Fin Fang Foom's armor. On the sprinting opener "Magnetic North," Sanchez calmly relays the need for patience and persistence as the band races ahead. "Deathless," the seven-minute center here, builds into an instrumental midsection, chiming guitar notes and a circular rhythm section gradually creating a morass of distorted tone and saturated space. Just at the point of tedium, they leap from the mess, twice as heavy. Sanchez's singing, bordering on shouting, has rarely been so committed, so determined. Triplett unloads strings of razor-sharp high notes, and Glass swipes hard at his kit one last time. At the least, it's a happy ending. Hopefully, it's a surefooted restart." -Grayson Currin - Independent Weekly
"Brutal intensity with delicate emotionality, primal fury with existential angst, vigorously adventurous rhythms with guitar lines so strung-out they seem like they haven't slept for days and that's the razor's edge the band navigates." - The Daily Tar Heel
All at once you can imagine future-war battlefields of a dead moon, the Gothic American South of the 1890s, Paris Hilton’s bedroom… all places of immense pain and weariness. This is one band that a description fails to due justice. Faith No More’s “Ricochet” filtered through Joy Division’s “Atmosphere” makes the most sense to me. -chicagosnacks.org
"Here I thought I lost my faith in truly loud rock. Here I thought I was doomed forever to the realm of indie pop. Fin Fang Foom proves that even with amps cranked to eleven, loud rock can be a beautiful thing."
- www.fensepost.com (Nov 24, 2009)
new Reviews for new record will be posted soon. Tom from AAM is handling our press.
"With Fin Fang Foom it seems that the label may have discovered a hard-to-pin-down act that really can't be classified as anything but damn good."
- Basement Life
"At their root, they're a three-piece post-punk band, but they do so many things other bands of this ilk have neither the talent nor the balls to pull off." - Ink 19
"This band shows amazing talent and poise while still maintaining an edge." Â - Delusions of Adequacy
"Powerful and addictive, Fin Fang Foom's disc comes with a punch but leaves with a caress." Â - Independent Weekly
- m
Discography
Fin Fang Foom Monomyth CD/LP 2009
Fin Fang Foom Live at the ATlantic vinyl series the FEST EDITION
2009 LP
Fin Fang Foom Native Tongue CD EP 2006
Saddle Up and Love It Compilation CD 2005
Various Artists Lovitt Transmissions: Volume One (DVD) 2004
Fin Fang Foom With The Gift Comes The Curse CD 2006
Fin Fang Foom Texture, Structure & the Condition of Moods CD/LP 2001
Fin Fang Foom Self-Titled 7" 2001
Fin Fang Foom Split Recording 10" 1999
Fin Fang Foom Unified Fortification CD EP 1998
Fin Fang Foom In Memory of Peter the Great 7"1997
Photos
Bio
FROM LIFE TO DEATH AND BACK”: POST-ROCK VETERANS RETURN WITH FIRST NEW FULL-LENGTH IN SIX YEARS
Fin Fang Foom’s Monomyth due out 11-24-09 on Lovitt Records
The term “monomyth” refers to a pattern that underlies mythical narratives from various cultures: the hero ventures out into the world, contests with forces beyond his ken, and emerges victorious– but also transformed. For many bands, titling a record Monomyth would seem a grandiose statement, but for Fin Fang Foom, who’ve been currying a global fanbase from their home of Chapel Hill for twelve continuous years, it verges on plain fact.
If you’ve never heard Fin Fang Foom, or just think you know what they’re all about, Monomyth is an ideal moment to catch up. Not only is it their first new record in six years, it represents the pinnacle of their craft– the interplay between Michael Triplett’s pensive yet powerful guitar, Eddie Sanchez’s rumbling bass guitar, ominous keys, and restrained singing, and Mike Glass’ dynamic drumming has never been more subtle and powerful. The legendary Brian Paulson’s production captures every nuance of quietude and volume, beauty and menace. The title track sums up the current Fin Fang Foom sound, sturdily transitioning from airy piano keys to searing guitars– they favor the hard-won climax over the forced eruption.
And thematically, Monomyth sums up all the travails the band has weathered to this point– not literally, but emotionally. It’s a brooding yet hopeful work that finds Fin Fang Foom humbled but unbowed. This stance is informed by the tragic death of first drummer Peter Enriquez, and by Triplett’s near-death experience with spinal meningitis in 2004. When so many bands break up at the slightest difficulty, Fin Fang Foom’s perseverance through exceptional adversity is remarkable. The point of the record isn’t that the band members are mythical champions– it’s that everyday people, striving and surviving, are the real heroes. Lyricist Sanchez says that the record is about all of the trauma Fin Fang Foom has endured, but especially Triplett’s ordeal. “That, to me, is a hero’s journey,” says Sanchez. “From life to death and back.” Legions of bands play slow-burning post-rock that embraces the human struggle, but few can do so from such an authoritative, authentic position.
QUICK FACTS:
Fin Fang Foom formed in 1996, in Jacksonville, Florida. They moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, in 1998, and remain there to this day. The core membership includes Bassist/singer/keyboardist Eddie Sanchez, guitarist Michael Triplett, and drummer Mike Glass. They’ve toured all over the country, and have undertaken three European tours, with a 4th scheduled in 2010. Along the way, they’ve shared stages with luminaries like Blonde Redhead, June of 44, Don Caballero, Cursive, Man or Astroman?, and many others. They’ve released two prior full-length LPs: Texture, Structure, and the Conditions of Moods (2001) and With the Gift Comes the Curse (2003), both on Lovitt Records, as well as several EPs, splits, and singles. Lovitt will release Monomyth on Nov. 24. It was engineered, mixed, and produced by Brian Paulson, and recorded at Kudzu Ranch in Mebane, NC. It features back-up vocals by Dave Laney of Milemarker and Auxes (“Exploding Coast”) and Heather McEntire of Bellafea and Un Deux Trois (“Lonely Waves”). “Lonely Waves” also features violin by Brendan Rice. Fin Fang Foom will be touring behind
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