At times FR…F! sound absolutely brilliant. At others they come across like a complete and utter mess. And therein lies the problem, a complete identity crisis of a band trying to sound like their influences, but when your influences range from Alexisonfire to Fall of Troy to Glassjaw you either hit the spot with something groundbreaking or totally fuck it up and sound chaotic and forced. Final Round…Fight! sound like both – within the same song. The band make a complete hash of ‘Robo McFist’ until the second, more melodic vocals kick in halfway through and suddenly it doesn’t sound quite so bad. ‘Beware Oblivion…’ starts off brilliantly but slowly descends into the obvious with vocals screeching and shouting their way through in an obvious manner. It’s almost Gallows-like in the vocal delivery.
The band are clearly on the right lines and at times sound fresh and exciting, but they’re nowhere near the finished article yet and need to go back to the practice room and work out what type of band they want to be. If they want to be Gallows they need to be faster and more passionate. If they want to be Glassjaw they need to be heavier. If they want to be Fall of Troy they’re not technical nor bat-shit crazy enough. With some spit and polish these guys could be ones to watch.