I never thought I would write this post.
I have looked for this record for years, passing it up because of the price, hoping that their (ill-advised) reunion would bring a reissue with it. Then, Tooth and Nail Records was bought by big bad EMI Christian, dashing any hopes of T&N reissues against the rocks.
And then, even the most highly-priced copies disappeared. I had bemoaned $120 price tags, but expensive Moon is Down is better than none. My Christmas miracle was not only finding this within my budget, but the seller also offered the next two FSF albums for a small increase.
And so, here I am, spinning The Moon is Down, one of my all-time favorite records. And it hasn’t aged a day from when I discovered it as the album by “the Dashboard dude’s old band.” And since my first listen, I have rued the day when Chris and FSF parted ways (although a listen to Penny Black told me it was better that way) and kept this record close to my heart.
While ballads like “Snowbirds & Townies” and “New Year’s Project” are the tracks of this incarnation of Further Seems Forever that most people remember, there’s a loud streak on this album a mile wide that no one ever did better.
“The Bradley,” “Monachetti,” “Pictures of Shorelines,” and the like are some of the rawest, most fist-pumpingest, scream-alongiest emo songs ever written. And now that I have secured a copy of the record (my CD disappeared years ago), it will be in much more regular circulation.
Although, their cover of “Say It Ain’t So” is a strange addition for the vinyl version. Why not “Justice Prevails” from their debut split EP? Oh well. It costs nothing to walk to the turntable at the end of “New Desert Life.”
And, you’ll hear this a few times as I go through their discography, but Chad Neptune was the unsung hero of Further Seems Forever. Dude’s basslines are SICK.