There's a big goddamn yellow sticker taking up most of the top half of this CD proclaiming that Far From Finished has been seen on tour with Less Than Jake (*gasp*), Roger Miret and the Disasters (No Way!) and also had some stage time at Warped Tour (OH WOW!). Color me
unimpressed. Far from Finished aren't winning any early points with me by announcing they've played with two bands I could give a rat's ass about and been stuck on packaged summer tour that I've never attended. Not even when the purist of mall punks said it was "good."
If Living in the Fallout is what passes for punk rock these days, then I'm glad I haven't dyed my hair bright purple or wore anything spiky since 1997. It's not that Far From Finished knows how to write a good hook or have some nice catchy melodies. The problem is that I could here the same hooks on a mid-period Goo Goo Dolls at their cheesiest or any number of horrible Bad Religion songs at their best. There are moments on Living in the Fallout were I'm having a hard time distinguishing Far From Finished from your token bar band and an honest to Watti punk rock band besides the fact that they thank Fred Perry and Dickies in the liner notes.
Well maybe, Far From Finished is a punk band if you consider saying "fuck" in every song or telling people to "watch their backs" as some sort of middle finger to the status quo. To me it sounds like a dimwitted bully trying to impress people by having a potty mouth in the schoolyard. The song that lyrically irks me the most on Living in the Fallout is the "Roses & Razorblades," which has the chorus of, "And it's like Roses and Razorblades. There are some scars that are never gonna fade away." Okay I get the scars part due to razors, you cutter, but roses? Huh? Thorns cause scarring? Roses really don't cause anything memorable besides maybe having a girlfriend that constantly reminds of the Valentine's Day you didn't buy them for her. I have no clue. I only bring this up because I feel like an idiot singing this in the line at the bank because these lyrics are being constantly dredged up as if my brain is dragging Lake of Bad Cliché Lyrics.
There's so much I dislike about Living in the Fallout it's almost unbearable to sit through the forty plus minutes. From the token song that starts off with the sounds of rambunctious bar ("Wanna Be Catastrophe") to the most overused big noisy ending ("Living in the Fallout") part in a punk song. I don't know who would be into Far From Finished besides that impressionable freshman that thinks the senior with the Great Clips Mohawk and inked up jean jacket is super cool. Living in the Fallout is placid by the numbers straight to your food court punk with the emphasis on the ROCK. Have a great time on Warped Tour showing off your full sleeves to fourteen-year-old girls in tank tops. For me I'll going to listen to Minor Threat and try to relive what this is really all about.
