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Formed at the University of North Carolina,
"Far Too Jones" began when lead singer, Stephen Spruill,
and Alan Callahan, became friends. Callahan played acoustic guitar
while Spruill sang at parties. They decided to form a band as
a result. College mates Scott MacConnell (drums), Jason Marks
(guitar and vocals) and Dave Dicke (guitar) rounded out the band.
"Far Too Jones" started their
performing career with a bang, opening for Cheryl Crow. They
earned the spot with their first demo tape. In 1996 they released
their own record, "Crawling Out from Under." Their
big break came when the program director at local station G105
heard them. He decided to play their song "As Good As You"
on the radio. The song took off, becoming a #5 hit at the station,
an incredible accomplishment for an unsigned band to achieve.
Things really began to roll as other stations picked up the song.
Not long after, record companies started paying attention. Mammoth
signed the band in April of 1998. The resulting album, "Picture
Postcard Walls," combines rerecorded material from their
self - produced album, and new material written specifically
for their Mammoth debut.
The opening track, "As Good as You,"
sounds most like "The Gin Blossoms" to me, but Spruill's
voice is a bit different. It's off to a running start with guitars
blaring, drums banging, leading into a softer vocal section.
Guitar work on the song is particularly good, and varied. The
song tells the story of someone obsessed with being like an admired
partner.
"Nameless," the next track, begins
with soft ringing guitar licks. Guitar and bass talk to each
other, creating an interesting landscape of sound. Vocals seem
to fight with the result. A different mix could help draw them
out a bit. Otherwise the song is pretty good. It's about the
things left unsaid between two people in a relationship. Often
those are the things that start out small and create chasms between
them later on. "In between the lies, in between the spaces/
Lie the faces of the ones that we don't talk about no more."
"Stoned and Reeling" starts off
with the same ringing guitar as "Nameless," but the
vocals don't fight with the instruments here. Backing vocals
fit in beautifully. The lyrics in these songs actually have something
to say, making the jacket design annoying. Lyrics overlap, bleed
off and fade out, making them impossible to read. This is particularly
true with "Stoned and Reeling," a song relating the
sad tale of a couple overwhelmed by addiction. The narrator is
caught up in his partner's story, finding it difficult to leave.
It's an awesome song.
"Middle of Me" has an emphasis
on beat in the intro. Heavy guitar licks bleed in with vocals
alternating at first. Spruill sings of a situation that would
be better if not for him being in it. "Close to You"
has a softer approach, beginning with strings. The images are
appropriately pretty to compliment them. "Watching daybreak
chase shadows from you, as you cling to sleep/ There's a moment
in my world, when I don't want to breathe/ I just want to be
close to you. . ."
"The One" is a heavy rocker of
a song. Guitars set up a dialog between them in the second verse,
while vocals, a third voice, weave in and out. Backing vocals
find their place in the conversation. There's a lot of good energy
in this song of unrequited love. "Look at you Now"
is probably an older song, as it's much simpler in theme and
music than the others. It reminds me of old "John Cougar"
songs.
"Falling Back Down" begins with
drum and a simple guitar part. What's set up fades off into something
else as the lead guitar and vocal takes over. There are a lot
of different pieces linked together in this one. They don't quite
mesh into a cohesive song for me. It's about not being able to
live up to someone's expectations. "Best of Me," holds
together as a song more. Too bad the lyrics fall off the edge
of the jacket, completely obscured. There's a good dialog between
the lead and backing vocals in places. This band makes an effort
to do things like that in their songs. Between voice and instruments
there is often an interplay, creating points of interest in the
landscape of their songs.
Opening with a quirky guitar line, "Torn
Asunder" is a song of feelings of inadequacy resulting from
a broken relationship. Again, most of the lyrics bleed off the
page. "I'm crawling out from under, all I've torn asunder/
Everything about me is wrong/ I know I'm still the same. God
knows I'll never change/ All I want is you to want me again.
. ." The next to last track, ". . .And I Wanted You
to Know," is another downer. He wants the girl referred
to in the title to know how bad things are since she's not around.
He wants her back, although he lied and treated her badly. It
begins with all instruments careening along. Soon the vocal begins
and the instruments fade back a bit.
"Aint Got Time" is a great, soft
departure from the previous few songs. The acoustic guitar intro
is pleasant, drawing the listener in. Spruill sings of a friend
who no longer has time for him. His friend's life changes; family,
the job and other things begin pulling him away. It's a well
told story of two friends who seek different kinds of lives:
one an artistic, less conventional life; the other the white
picket fence American dream. This is one of the better songs
on the album. A surprise thirteenth track kicks in directly following
"Aint Got Time." With no title and nothing but acoustic
guitar and Spruill's voice the song might seem bare, but it's
all that is needed. Spruill's voice is softer, with an echo,
but less of an edge. It's a bittersweet song of a girl who never
quite got her life together. "She gives a little more than
she's given/ Mom always told her/ Could have been a country singer/
Except she can't sing. . ."
"Far Too Jones" reminds me most
of bands like "Matchbox 20" and "The Gin Blossoms."
Their hooks aren't quite as grabby as those bands', but this
isn't necessarily bad, because Spruill has something to say.
Many critics will probably say they're just copying this sub-genre
of alternative rock. What I'm starting to realize, though, is
that often these new bands have perfected their song writing
over many years. I think it's more likely the record companies
are copying each other by signing bands with similar sounds once
one becomes popular. "Far Too Jones" does have their
own edge, though. I think their personality will probably be
more evident with their next effort, but give this one a try.
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