A Young Trophy Band In The Parlance Of Our Times,
As Friends RustChange is apparently as good as rest. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. The news that As Friends Rust had changed their vocalist and that the growling, soaring vocals that Damien, the now departed front man, had stamped upon the AFR sound would be no more was met with howls of disdain amongst their fans. With the change of singer came a change of name, and As Friends Rust were no more, to be replaced by Salem.
‘A Young Trophy Band In The Parlance Of Our Times’ is the final offering from AFR, and my god, what a swansong. Showing a natural progression from their earlier offerings, through to their full length, ‘Won’, and culminating at the unique and unmistakable sound of this e.p, these six tracks hint at just how magnificent AFR could have, and should have been.
Kicking off with the awesomely melodic, and brilliantly titled ‘More Than Just Music, It’s A Hairstyle’, the hooks are imbedded deep within the listener from the off, with the “What happened to the good old days? I don’t know, you would know, if I know, cus I’d say so” opening refrain forcing you to pay attention. The perfectly timed switches from power to calm and back again are a trademark of the AFR sound, and no other band I know of carries it off so perfectly. Aggressive and intimidating one moment, head-achingly melodic the next and without sounding like they’re doing it ‘to be cool’, every song on here will have you wishing you were involved in its creation.
Another high point of ‘A Young Trophy Band…’ is the lyrical content. ‘The Most Americanest’, with it’s post-9/11 related subject matter is scathing, intelligent, unnerving and beautiful all at the same time. This is the kind of anti-blind-patriotism song that the likes of Anti-Flag can only dream of writing. ‘Temporary Living’ takes the pace down a notch or two with it’s mid paced, yet still furiously delivered rock riffage before the quite brilliant ‘Born With A Silver Spoon Up Your Ass’ kicks in. A simple yet unnervingly catchy chorus and a repeated fill that seems so out of place that it comes 360 and fits perfectly in with the song structure (probably due to Damien’s perfect vocal delivery) make for the fourth perfectly memorable number on this mini CD.
If you thought you’d heard it all from AFR by this point, the swirling, solemn and, most of all, striking ‘Up and Went’ will throw you off completely. Forty six seconds of gentle acoustic guitar and haunting piano, coupled with Damien’s heartfelt and sober lyrics make for a wonderfully welcome break in the proceedings. After this brief interlude, ‘Where The Wild Things Were’ completes proceedings with a chugging finale. Abstract, yet melodic, it is a fine pinnacle to a fine CD.
R.I.P As Friends Rust. In your wake, you leave many expectant fans hungry for a taste of post-Damien AFR, yet wary of the absence of his brilliance. ‘A Young Trophy Band…’ is a fitting goodbye to an often overlooked but never over-estimated band who deserved to be heard by everyone.
Ross
