Fol ChenPart II: The New December
Asthmatic Kitty Records [2010]
Fire Note Says: The highs outweigh the lows on Fol Chen's sophomore Part II!
Album Review:
As the title states, this is the sophomore record from Highland Park, CA band Fol Chen. The group once again bends simple pop numbers with odd sounds, loud percussion at times and hidden melodies around every corner. It is this approach that makes Fol Chen unique because they never give you a straight line of music but make you go up, down and around to meet the tracks final destinations. This quality can also have a downside, as Fol Chen present such a changing style from song to song that they sound like a different band on each track and loose the cohesiveness that would make their art-pop spectacular. This does hold the record back a bit but when you really dissect The New December, tracks like the super elctro-poppy opener "The Holograms" and soaring foot tapper sing-a-long "C/U" highlight the groups talent. Part I clearly was a solid opener for Fol Chen, as Part II has excellent moments but does not quite connect all the dots - this only leaves us to anticipate Part III because if Fol Chen can align their ideas and talents into one record we will be listening to one of the years best!
Key Tracks: "In Ruins", "C/U", "The Holograms"
Bands With Similar Fire:
Deerhoof
The Dirty Projectors
Komeda
Fol Chen: Part I - John Shade, Your Fortune's Made [Fire Note Review 3/3/09]
Official Fol Chen Website
Fol Chen MySpace
Fol Chen Facebook
Asthmatic Kitty Records
-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony
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