Face to Face “Three Chords and Half a Truth” Album Review
Face to Face
“Three Chords and a Half Truth”
Rise Records
Review by Jacob Ray
California punk mainstays Face to Face recently released their 8th studio album Three Chords and Half a Truth on Rise Records. This is the second album that the band have released since re-uniting in 2008, and they have been touring fairly extensively the past few years. The band is in the middle of a very lengthy U.S. tour with Teenage Bottlerocket and the Blacklist Royals, after which it looks like they will be going over to Deutschland for some festivals and such. Oh, and if you are a scrub like me and missed that tour when it came to your town, luckily there are pictures and videos from two of the Face to Face/ TBR/ Blacklist Royals right here on Punkworldviews!
Out now on Rise Records
Track List:
1. “123 Drop”
2. “Welcome Back to Nothing”
3. “Smokestacks and Skyscrapers”
4. “Right as Rain”
5. “First Step, Misstep”
6. “Bright Lights Go Down”
7. “Paper Tigers with Teeth”
8. “Flat Black”
9. “Jinxproof”
10. “Marked Me”
11. “Three Chords and Half a Truth”
12. “Across State Lines”
Face to Face is an important band to a lot of people, myself included. I heard “Shoot the Moon” off of How to Ruin Everything in a paintball video (Cereal Killerz) when I was small and it still holds up as one of my favorite songs. Also, I think that Face to Face’s last record was fucking awesome, so safe to say, I had high hopes for Three Chords and Half a Truth.
The record kicks off with “123 Drop” which I did not particularly like. The repetitive, rhythmic chords killed it for me. But I listened on, hoping for something better, which I got with “Welcome Back to Nothing”. It reminded me of older Face to Face songs, with a chorus that just flippin’ soars.
Repetitive, rhythmic chords were utilized in a much more appealing way in the globalization critical song, “Smokestacks and Skyscrapers”. This song is just fun, there really isn’t a better way to describe it. I also really enjoy the next track, “Right as Rain”. It’s got some really big vocals and it’s about friends and stuff, just like the rest of my favorite Face to Face songs. I was in a really good place with this record, but then “First Step, Misstep” halted my enthusiasm. I don’t care for it for the same reason I dislike “123 Drop”, it’s a little too repetitive and the result is that I got bored after about thirty seconds.
However, much like the band themselves, my enthusiasm returned very quickly after it left. “Bright Lights Go Down” is a great song, the song title gets repeated in the lyrics a lot, but the various parts of the song structure and the faster tempo keep it from being boring like a couple of other songs on the record. If Face to Face knows how to do anything, it’s using vocal notes that are held for an extended amount of time. I think it is one of the hallmarks of all of their best songs and “Paper Tigers with Teeth” is one of those songs. I’ve always loved, it’s Trever Keith’s vocals, not to say that the other members of the band aren’t on point on Three Chords and Half a Truth because they most certainly are.
I wasn’t aware that anybody loved the radio anymore, until Face to Face told me so on the more melodic song, “Flat Black”. It’s not often that I like bands that aren’t the Bouncing Souls to talk about the radio, but I liked this song well enough. The melodic-ness (is that a word?) continues on “Jinxproof”. By now you know that I really like Face to Face’s choruses, but, there are exceptions to every rule because I really dislike this song. There is something about the way that the word “jinxproof” is sung that I find really annoying and quite frankly, disappointing. The next song, “Marked Men” is okay. I don’t dislike it, but it is far from my favorite on the album. Nothing about it really captured my attention unfortunately, although it will probably grow on me after a few more listens.
The pace picks up again with the title track. I was a big fan of the mid-tempo songs on the Laugh Now, Laugh Later and this song reminds me of some of those songs. The record comes to a close with “Across State Lines” which a song about driving across state lines, believe it or not. It’s a pretty good song and ends the album on a positive note. While Three Chords and Half a Truth may not get Face to Face a whole bunch of new fans, and I can even see how some people who are big fans of the old stuff could potentially not care for this album too much, I think it’s a pretty solid release. It’s a Face to Face record through and through, and based off of what that means to you personally would be the determining factor in whether or not you should go out and buy it (I bought it).
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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