For Against - Shade Side Sunny Side

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Customer reviews
Press release

3...according to our Brian on Thu 01 May, 2008.

Hey it's all getting a little gloomy round here. I have a CD by For Against (Shade Side, Sunny Side) which is once again an American band who used to sound like an overcoat rock band from 1981, really creepy guitars that got all cathedrally on yr ass and now years & years later they're still going strong, a little more serene and quite mature & considered. They've matured like the New Zealand bands such as The Clean & The Chills did. The atmospherics are dense & fresh and the songwriting is at once engaging & hopeful. They'd probably appeal to followers of later Cure & Wedding Present gear & generally introspective well produced rock. Remember bands like Dark Star & Levitation? There's little bits of that on here mangling with more commercial numbers but it's all pretty good. On Words on Music, CD only.

Factory Records, Joy Division, Section 25, Interpol, My Bloody Valentine. WORDS ON MUSIC is proud to release “Shade Side Sunny Side,” FOR AGAINST’s seventh full-length record and first studio album since 2002. As the Lincoln, Nebraska trio approaches their 25th anniversary on the independent music scene, FOR AGAINST has reemerged with an exclamation point: “Shade Side Sunny Side” is a landmark record for the band, boasting FOR AGAINST’s darkest (and loudest) material to date. The post-punk roots of FOR AGAINST’s early years are firmly in place, but presented throughout 9 new songs with a more expansive and atmospheric sonic palette. “Shade Side Sunny Side” also marks the notable return of original FOR AGAINST guitarist Harry Dingman III, who formed the band with vocalist and bassist Jeffrey Runnings back in 1984. The album reveals itself as a confessional and therapeutic musical diary, with several songs recounting the tragic life and loss of a close family member, from the acerbic “Glamour,” to the haunting ballad “Why Are You So Angry?,” and culminating in “Game Over,” where Runnings is at his most defenseless, singing nakedly on piano through the first verse and chorus. FOR AGAINST’s musicianship on “Shade Side Sunny Side” is in top form, reflecting a maturity befitting their quarter-century of songwriting and performances and a freshness that has drawn together an interesting union of dream pop enthusiasts in the USA and a strong darkwave following in Europe.

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