Review: Fairweather - Deluge (EP)

Label: Equal Vision Records/Rude Records

Despite I've been aware of their existence for a very long time, I have absolutely no connection to FAIRWEATHER. Their name was always around and I'm sure one or two of their songs randomly made their way in and out of my ears, but I've never listened to any of their records.

Forming in 1999, they released two full lengths at the beginning of the 2000s via Equal Vision Records. This was one of my favourite labels back then and now I know for sure why their name was always at the back of my mind. By 2003 FAIRWEATHER probably split up too soon to make a splash. Getting comparisons with bands like SAVES THE DAY, THE MOVIELIFE, GLASSEATER or GAMEFACE, there was something there to make it bigger. Yeah, they moved towards the more emo-ish site of Pop-Punk.

In 2011 they reunited, releasing their third full length in 2014 to sparse reactions. With their"selftitled" they tried to hang on to their old style, but now here's the real new beginning called "Deluge". This has nothing in common with all the bands mentioned above. Now you might say that it would be odd for them to sound just like they did 20 years ago, but as music history told us, there are probably more bands to forever hold onto their original sound then to take a step forward.

FAIRWEATHER did so. A look at the length of this record is enough to tell, that this is something else. Featuring four tracks only, "Deluge" clocks in at a length of almost 22 minutes. Their new style lies somewhere between Alt-Rock and Post-Rock and comes off as pretty mature, while maintaining enough emotions. That's quite possibly the link to their past. It's sheer impossible to say something about "Deluge" without mentioning THRICE. This reminds me a lot of all the stuff THRICE did at "Alchemy Index" and past to it. These four songs have the same elegance and are as expansive and as polished. It's not bad that they took this route. They may have some similarites to THRICE now, but it's not like this special field (bands with a history in Post-/Emocore going Alt-/Post-Rock) is crowded as fuck. Also, FAIRWEATHER get their own two cents in, with a vastly instrumentated (three guitars) and more Post-Rock-orientated style and an overall theme to the record. At least, in terms of atmosphere these four songs stay true to one another. It's surprisingly dark and moody and coherent throughout. 

The highlights are the two singles, especially the beautiful "Control". "No Safe Corners" is safely not as good, though it's right around the corner, while "Pass of Redress" is the weak spot of the record. The positive sites clearly outweigh the negatives in the end. For the fact that these guys were out of action for a long time and re-defined themselves, "Deluge" turned out quite well. Definitely check this out if you're into newer THRICE or even BRAND NEW.

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