Farrah: The Beatles, Beach Boys, Raspberries and Bay City Rollers rolled into one
Written: May 25 '03 (Updated Oct 22 '03)
Product Rating:
Pros: Wonderful power pop from England:"Terry,""I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend"...
Cons: None.
The Bottom Line: Farrah's first album has already produced hits in England, including "Terry" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend." Fans of The Beatles and The Beach Boys will enjoy this.
Pure power pop dynamite can be found under the band name of Farrah, a British group that already has two British hits ("Terry" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend") under their belts and one incredible piece of pop heaven in their debut album, "Moustache."
The explosive quartet formed in England in 1998. The band's members have declared their influences to range from The Beach Boys, The Raspberries and The Rubinoos to Supergrass, The Fountains of Wayne and Squeeze.
The sound is pure pop with melodic, ringing guitar sounds carrying some of the best multi-part vocal harmonies currently being recorded in rock 'n' roll. This band "rocks" hard --- kind of a modern Bay City Rollers meets The Beatles sound-wise; full of youthful fun, yet combined with musical maturity beyond their young years.
The British pop press adores them, with "Q" magazine praising them "as bright and breezy as a midsummer's day on Santa Monica beach" while "Mojo" magazine said of them, "In an age of exceptional mainstream gloom and plasticine they offer a beacon of hope."
The CD:
First released in England in 2001 on Ark21 Records (the label run by Miles Copeland, the one-time manager of IRS Records, a guy whose management skill launched the careers of acts such as The Police, The Bangles, The Go-Go's and REM), the album was finally released in the USA in the summer of 2002 as the band made its first U. S. tour.
The British version of the album has a cover photo of a guy with an amazingly long handlebar moustache. The U. S. version features a cover photo of the four band members.
The back covers of the CD are also different: the British version has song titles against a plain white background, while the U. S. version has a photo of the four band members behind the song titles. Otherwise the albums are the same with 12 gorgeous pop tracks, 11 of which are originals written by band members.
The CD booklet is 8-pages with complete song lyrics included and a montage of color photos of the band as its centerfold across two pages (reminds one of those photo layouts on some classic '60s pop albums --- a smiling, cool-looking group of musicians facing its audience).
The tracks:
"Terry," "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend," "Only Happy When She's Sad," "Living For The Weekend," "Tired Of Apologising," "Lois Lane," "Life's Too Short," "Sofie So Far," "Don't Let Them Get You Down," "Talk About Nothing," "Seventies Superstar" and "Goodnight God Bless." There's also a hidden, unlisted muzak instrumental version of a tune a few minutes after the final track plays.
The best songs:
"Terry"
"Terry" is a gorgeous rocker with a brilliant guitar-driven intro that grabs you and won't let you go.
The band describes "Terry" as "a cautionary tale of a yuppie who bites off more than he can chew on the London club scene," so there is some drug imagery in the tune, but when lead singer Jez Ashurst (who wrote the tune) sings ala John Lennon 1967 of when "I dream in psychedelic slow-mo, I let my ego go" the subject matter fails to matter and you're on a "Magical Mystery Tour" in the 1960s:
"...Where are you Terry? / I'm having a bad one / Terry's okay, he's coming my way / he's shouting brilliance in my ear..."
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend":
Farrah does a perfect cover of The Rubinoos' classic "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (written by Tommy "Guitar God" Dunbar and James Gangwer, the tune was a British hit for the American band, The Rubinoos, the fourth most aired tune on British radio in 1978) that reminds this reviewer of The Bay City Rollers ("Saturday Night") with its anthemic chorus ("...hey you, I wanna be your boyfriend...").
"I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" is positively infectious on the the chorus (if you were like me and couldn't get "yeah, yeah, yeah" out of your head after hearing The Beatles' "She Loves You" for the first time, you get an idea of how catchy the chorus on the tune is):
"Sitting here so close together / so far we're just friends / but I'm wondering whether I / am I just imaging you / have you really got a thing for me like I think you do / when I see you smile and that smile's for me / I wanna tell you / hey you, I wanna be your boyfriend / trying to say I wanna be your number one / hey you, I wanna be your boyfriend / gonna make you love me before I'm done..."
That's Farrah: one minute 60s psychedelic pop with "Terry," the next minute '70s power pop heaven. An interesting, fun mix on an album, and most band's would die to record a track as engaging as Farrah's performance of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend."
"Only Happy When She's Sad":
Another tune by Jez Ashurst, this is a short, slow, acoustic ballad, very simple in its execution, much like The Beatles "I Will" or Eric Carmen's "Everything." A very sweet, if very short, but memorable tune with intelligent lyrics about a girl who stays with the wrong man:
"Only happy when she's sad / she does everything to please him / just to have him put her down / only angry coz she's mad / she runs around in circles as he tries to read her mind / she's been keeping the whole world waiting all her life..."
"Tired Of Apologising":
The third British single from the album mixes the heart of the Swingin '60s (The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Manfred Mann) with '90s pop sensibilities (Fountains Of Wayne, The Posies).
Again written by Ashurst, this midtempo pop ballad features a harmony-laden chorus that includes horns and "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba" backup vocals (something I adored about acts like The Turtles and The Association was the use of senseless "lyrics" underscored by lush orchestration --- the "uncool" becoming "cool" if you will):
"...I never meant to stress you / I've walked on eggshells lately / do you have to blame me? / I'm tired of apologising everytime things go wrong / I'm tired of always trying everytime things go wrong..."
"Life's Too Short":
Farrah could pass for The Raspberries ("Go All The Way") on "LIfe's Too Short." The tune has an opening that reminds me of a Raspberries' gem called "Ecstasy," with power chorded guitars, some prime drumming and a lead vocal to die for. Songwriter/lead singer Jez Ashurst could pass for The Raspberries' Eric Carmen here:
"...when I see her now as friends not lovers, neither knowing what we're throwing away / just like children dressed in grown ups clothing, one day I'm winning, the next I'm losing / it's a hopeless situation, why is she always so demanding / life's too short to waste my time on you..."
"Talk About Nothing":
Catchy-as-hell, this rocking little number, another composition by Ashurst, has more power than seems possible in a three-minute tune.
Ashurst seems a serious student of the "masters" (Lennon, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Carmen, Pete Ham, Pete Townshend) and has created a modern style all his own, complete with songs that have bridges coming out of nowhere and complex arrangements provided by the band's members.
As the pulsating bass, crashing hi-hats, well-beaten drum skins and slashing guitars drive home the point of a couple of people going nowhere in their relationship, Ashurst sings:
"We used to talk about the way we feel / now I don't feel as though we're really talking / I used to trust in you, my one ideal, now there's no subject in the converstaion / we're walking, sleep talking, feelings trapped inside / our defence in silence, how can I get through to you? / I don't wanna talk about nothing..."
"Seventies Superstar":
Ashurst joined Farrah bassist Mike Walker to write "Seventies Superstar," a coy "I wonder who he's really writing about" tune with movie star and rock 'n' roll star allusions about a character the singer meets in a bar. The sound is a bit ska meets pop here as the band sings:
"...I bought the songs that showed the measure of his fame, then he took the blame / it's so strange to meet your childhood hero / sometimes you can't believe that they were ever real / he was a seventies, seventies superstar, propping up the bar..."
"Goodnight God Bless":
Another tune written by Ashurst and Walker, "Goodnight God Bless" is a slow piano ballad lullaby with Ashurst sounding like Paul McCartney/Eric Carmen: a gentle, sweet vocal singing intelligent lyrics over a sweet melody --- positively gorgeous in execution (kind of The Beatles meet Coldplay and Radiohead in sound):
"Now it's time to go / we hope you liked the show / this is by far the best we've ever played / so sing along to fade / goodnight, God bless / sleep well, it's time to rest / sweet dreams, goodnight / I hope the bugs don't bite / think of times to come..."
Recommendation:
All twelve songs are good to great pop moments. The lyrics are intelligent. The instrumental prowess of the band is stunning. The vocal harmonies (especially on "Goodnight God Bless") are to die for. This may not be "Pet Sounds" or "Sergeant Pepper," but it's awful darned close.
Farrah is a band to watch for on tour. For now, enjoy the album. This will appeal to fans of '90s power pop, '70s glam and '60s classic rock. The group has a second album on the way.
On the web:
Official Farrah website: http://www.farrah.co.uk/
Official Ark21 Records website: http://www.ark21.com/
The Ark21 Records Farrah site: http://www.ark21.com/farrah.htm
The Official Rubinoos website: http://www.rubinoos.com/ ---- the original singers/songwriters of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" have regrouped to record their first album in five years, "Crimes Against Music"
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