REVIEWS OF FAIRMONT'S EP "THE MEADOW AT DUSK" MINT 400 RECORDS
Fire Drill Review: http://thefirenote.blogspot.com/
-Reviewed by Reece Michael
Fairmont are a solid sounding band that has a guy/gal vocal presentation of mostly upbeat folk rock that rekindles a 90's alternative sound. This should be no surprise to the bands fans, as Fairmont has been releasing music for most of this decade. The lineup has changed a bit over the years but clearly the competent tracks found here all stem from the bands longevity and are good enough to warrant anticipation for a future full length. If you are looking for something that sounds familiar but is new then be sure to seek out The Meadow At Dusk EP because its quality song structures and free spirit will win you over in no time.
Key Track: "I Am The Mountain"
Band With Similar Fire: Velocity Girl
"new tunes make full use of Sam Carradori’s sweet vocals as they both chase and compliment Sabatino’s husky melodic musings. A clean-sounding guitar takes a bit of a backseat to keys and xylophone, but the effect is actually quite soothing. This EP is of the perfect length and tempo for a warmup, a meditation or a boppy stroll through town."
-Deb Draisin | Jersey Beat.com
“Intelligent, well sung, well written and extremely tight musicianship. Not to mention the fact that it was produced well too.” - Johnny Demon | The Land of Nod WRPR FM 90.3
"is a nice, radio friendly alt-folk rocker. Album as a whole represents shift from indie-rock to alt-rock and alt-folk for the band."
Bryan Skowera | WESU 88.1 FM
Fairmont picks up a girl and an acoustic guitar, making good use of both.
By Stephen Carradini | Indepencent Clauses
Saturday August 29, 2009
The most striking thing about Fairmont’s The Meadow at Dusk EP is the relative calm it espouses. While Fairmont has never been the speediest of the indie-rock set tempo-wise, they’re anything but calm when it comes to their lyrical content. “Kicking and screaming, doused with bits of resigned bitterness” is a more apt description of the words that accompany Fairmont’s guitar-heavy indie-rock/pop.
With that calm comes a shift in instrumentation (or, perhaps, the shift in instrumentation causes the calm). Previous albums featured tracks that built towards overflowing endings crammed full of vocal tracks, electric guitar swells and pounding rhythm sections. There’s still some of that happening on Meadow. The crashing guitars and staccato rhythms of “From High Above the City” sound musically like a transplant from their last effort Transcendence.
The bridge, however, puts Fairmont’s direction in much greater focus, musically and lyrically. A bass riff on a keyboard takes over with a complicated riff, and an electronic beat keeps time for it. It flows seamlessly back into crashing electric guitars, but the point is made musically. The dual vocals feature a girl, a first for Fairmont. The lyrics portray a sort of normalcy that is uncharacteristic of Fairmont’s discography but in line with Meadow’s themes: “This could be heaven, this could be hell; this is life, this is how it’s going.”
With that new vocalist, addition of keyboard, and calmer outlook on life, the whole feel of Fairmont is slightly different. Those additions lead naturally to more acoustic guitar presence in their music, something that hasn’t been a major, effective part of Fairmont’s sound since 2003’s Anomie. “The King and Queen” is a folk-rock song supported by a sweet acoustic guitar riff, “The Embalmer” is a straight-up folk lullaby (albeit one with a chorus that says “Song for the suffering, song for the dead;” can’t stray too far from their roots), and “My One and Only One” is (get this) a love song. Yes, it does have “Sometimes you wear me out” as its main line, but its contrasted by “When times were tough, you were there” and the almost-weird-to-hear-coming-out-of-Neil-Sabatino’s-mouth “You are my one and only one.”
The tracks that make best use of the new female vocalist and feature the acoustic aesthetic are the more successful tracks on this album. “I am the Mountain” is the best meld of old and new, but it doesn’t hold a candle to “The King and Queen” and “The Embalmer.”
If you’re a fan of girl/guy interplay, you should add Fairmont to your library. You haven’t had a reason to before this, but Meadow at Dusk EP establishes new sounds and new angles to Fairmont’s sound that should intrigue you. It features some of their most accomplished and entertaining songwriting, and that’s saying something: I own half a dozen Fairmont releases. The tracks have an immediate glow and yet still grow in enjoyment as you hear them more; that’s something most bands wish they could accomplish. Highly recommended for fans of the Hold Steady, M. Ward, and/or Peter, Bjorn and John.
Reviews of FAIRMONT's 5th LP "Transcendence" Mint 400 Records
"Fairmont
is indie rock we should all be thankful for"
- Amp Magazine #34 Aug 08
"love will
overcome the existential angst of being. Whether or not that’s what
you think, you will enjoy this pop/rock album; it’s expertly crafted
and precisely written. Easily the best Fairmont has produced."
-Stephen Carradini | Independent Clauses.com
"capable
musicianship and honed songwriting chops at the helm. It’s a combination
that has led plenty of bands to success, and judging what they give us
here, Fairmont deserves to follow that lead.....Overall, I’ve got
to tell you, I like Fairmont quite a bit."
-Taylor Kingsbury | MishMash Magazine
"Musically the band has always been tight, but
with Transcendence, Fairmont takes great strides forward in terms of songwriting.
Songs of disillusion and despair have long defined the band, and their
latest record is not likely to change those impressions, but the organ-heavy
track "Everyone Hates A Critic" and the sing-along "Being
& Nothingness" are certain to win over a few more fans. Negativity
never sounded so good."
-John B. Moore | Innocent Words Magazine
""Transcendence" transcends into another
classification of indie rock. You see many bands that have the makings
of what Fairmont possesses, but they are unable to piece it all together
in a way that makes you think, "wow this is something special."
Which this album does."
- Derek | SkylinePress.net
"Fairmont’s new album Transcendence has imaginative turns,
emotive lifts, and a folksy rock basting relatable to Modest Mouse."
-Susan Frances | AbsolutePunk.net
"The band's sound reminds me of a mix between the Smoking
Popes, the Prom (especially due to the frequent use of bouncy keyboards)
and a little bit of Fountains Of Wayne (particularly in "Prick"),
mixing a crunchy guitar sound with occasional fuzzy synths... digging
deeper into the album proved rewarding, with favorites including "Luck
Will Change", "True Love Waits For Me" and the final track,
"Melt Your Heart", which is an uplifting tune whose outro contains
echoes of the coda from the disc's opener."
-Chris McFarlane | Indie Pages.com
"the band has crafted songs with a real beat to them,
tunes that you’ll be singing along to, even before you know the
words."
-Matt Merritt | Subba-Cultcha.com
"Fairmont has encountered more than its fair share
of setbacks and catastrophes, from multiple lineup changes to all the
usual calamities that befall DIY bands. But with its fifth full-length
release, perhaps the band has found the traction it needs to move forward
in the indie underground."
-Jim Testa | JerseyBeat.com
"Fairmont defy genre definition. This act has a comfortable
grip on pop-punk, soul often found in singer-songwriters, and a variety
of indie-pop styles including the recently popular ability to transplant
harmonies from the 1960s. Unlike many modern multi-genre bands, however,
Fairmont are good at it."
-Kelsey Adelson | mxdwn.com
"STOP reading now, buy three copies of this album and
enjoy the shit out of them"
- Jack Gregory | ReaxMusic.com
FULL REVIEW
FROM INDEPENDENT CLAUSES:
Fairmont Transcends their previous work.
written by Stephen Carradini on Jan.09, 2009
I’ve followed Fairmont through three full-length albums
and an EP. It’s not a surprise to me that Transcendence, the fifth
full-length by Neil Sabatino and Co. that I’ve had the privilege
of reviewing, improves on their last work musically. This is a trend they
have continued (with only the occasional slip-up) since the beginning
of their time as a band. The startling thing about Transcendence is the
fact that everything else about the album is amazing as well.
Not to knock on Fairmont’s previous work (you will find my glowing
reviews of their previous work if you search), but it always fell just
short of that thing that kept it playing in my CD player. Maybe the lyrics
were horribly morose. The song order was sketchy. Sometimes the songs
had great parts and regrettable parts mashed next to each other. Transcendence
fixes all these problems and creates a total album.
Yes, Transcendence should be played front to back each time, because the
song order matters. The album has an ebb and flow that would be totally
lost in a pick-and-choose listening. The songs of Transcendence seem autobiographical
in the best sense: the album feels chronological, as if I were reading
a book about Neil Sabatino. This, again, is due to the song order, which
places a discussion of his childhood spent in an apocalyptic commune first.
The bizarre conduct of the cult sets the stage for the skepticism and
existentialism that characterize the rest of the album. It’s easy
to draw connections in all of the other songs from points within the first
song (the easiest being a reprise of the bridge in the last song, with
more obscure references and touchpoints throughout). In short, the lyrics
and song order suck me into a world that I inhabit for forty minutes.
Seeing as Sabatino’s existentialism is completely counter to my
Christian worldview, my total immersement in the ideas and themes of the
album while I’m hearing it is a compliment to the descriptive and
impassioned quality of the lyrics.
But it’s not just the lyrics that make tunes like “Everyone
Hates a Critic” and “Luck Will Change” into the outstanding
pieces of music they are. Highlight “Everyone Hates a Critic”
has an incredibly interesting rhythmic pattern and a neat chord progression.
It’s hard to not like it. “Luck Will Change,” while
being the bleakest on the album, lyrically, is pretty upbeat and fun.
Both songs feature piano/synths, which is a new thing for Fairmont, and
it’s a very good thing.
In terms of rocking, “Omaha” wins. It has a raucous riff,
a sinister mood, and a vaguely surf-rock mood. I sing it when it comes
up on the album. “Melt Your Heart” is also pretty punked-out
for being a love song.
“Melt Your Heart” ends with the bridge from the first song
“Being and Nothingness,” as the male and female vocalists
declare their love for each other over the repeated group-sing of “aimless!”
It’s the transcendence that Fairmont named the album after; love
will overcome the existential angst of being. Whether or not that’s
what you think, you will enjoy this pop/rock album; it’s expertly
crafted and precisely written. Easily the best Fairmont has produced.
Reviews of FAIRMONT's 4th LP "Wait & Hope" GFB Records
"rocking, paranoid, i love it, the video gives me the creeps for
a minute there, but great ending. anyway, right on in my book"
- Matthew Caws (Nada Surf)
"They're pretty rad"
- Mark Hoppus (+44)
"Fairmont's new record, Wait and Hope, is beautiful. It has a unique
way of being both dark and hopeful at the same time."
- Tyler Pursel (Gym Class Heroes & Ladybirds)
"Fairmont, seems once again poised to break to a wider audience."
- Nathan Dylan (WonkaVisionMagazine.com)
From AbsolutePunk.net By Julia Conny
I think I hear the distinct brewing of coffee house espresso over the
dingy hammering of Fairmont’s Wait & Hope. I also think I hear
faint touches of 90’s alternative and the rustling of flannel. Filing
nearly every hole in the wall, Wait & Hope is the homage to old school
rock like The Replacements, The Kinks and Husker Du in a grungy era. Rooted
in punk rock, there are dirty riffs, an obviously organic point of view,
and a frustrated, oppressed vocalist – just look at the album artwork.
The untreated Fairmont sound may come off as crude to some, but that’s
the catch 22 when your band fits more in tune with the grunge movement
than new millennium indie rock. Wait & Hope keeps to familiar themes
like in “Yearbook” and most tracks bear a similar mid-tempo
pitter-pattering. Neil Sabatino’s smoky but high vocals quiver and
quail along with the percussion and loud, stately piano fits. He’s
got a bit of an attitude, that Sabatino, but his band neutralizes the
total effect with their own edge of blue-collar wisdom. Take “At
The End of The Movie.” The track begins light and timid. The guitars
prickle until they build enough confidence to strum and chug at their
own accord until a headstrong piano comes in, the one with the big head,
and pushes the guitars until they can’t handle the spotlight anymore;
they jump back to an acoustic hermit stage and we are alone once more.
But it’s not the guitars that are the winning steel workers for
Fairmont. Two things get me thinking that Fairmont has something really
(and I mean this genuinely) different than their current peers, at least
the ones I’ve heard. First of all, I can actually hear the bass.
Distinct, very audible basslines tumble throughout Wait & Hope. They
contribute towards the albums deep-in-thought image and provide each track
with a dark mystique. Second - the harmonica. It’s the harmonica
that gives Wait & Hope a bittersweet glow, and no matter where it
pops up in a song, I always feel as though it is well-placed, well-thought,
and well-deserved. It’s an easy instrument to incorporate, but it’s
not an easy instrument to master without looking like an amateur. Tracks
like “Wait & Hope” use each and every instrument to the
greatest effect while they blend seamlessly. It’s more than riffing
and rolling here, and it’s done simple and well.
I believe that Fairmont is hot shit because I believe in good ‘ol
organic fun. The production is sloppy like it should be, and I don’t
expect (or want) anything more. Sabatino is paranoid and distraught throughout,
if you couldn’t already tell from “Happiness Is A Million
Miles Away From Me.” Between him, the dirty riffs, bass and harmonica
solos, and piano thumping, there is enough to Fairmont spirit to give
up on that corporate coffee chain down the street.
From Pop Vulture (Jersey Beat.com)
http://popvulturephil.blogspot.com
FAIRMONT - Wait & Hope (www.fairmontmusic.com) Fairmont makes some
wickedly rock & roll noise! Studied and intense, they sometimes pretend
to be Dramarama (and that's a good thing), using their evident talent
to make a very enjoyable record. Catchy, anthemic songs like "Wait
& Hope," or "At the End of the Movie," are written
with tireless exuberance, and come from a batch of songs that are full
of excess passion. Energetic dance-rockers with catchy melodies, period.
That alone should be enough to get you buy this album. Fairmont have the
musical finesse to pull off the fine balance between old school rock &
roll and a more modern sound. There are no half-cocked ideas, or stabs
at any type of techno-glam, or polishing up of the music. What you hear
is what you get. Twelve really good songs with blue-collar wisdom (("Year
Book" is a fine example), amidst a barrage of janglely, heartfelt
pop rock. This is a band that seems to want global domination with these
hits and near-hits. Plus they have enough mojo to make you want to check
oit their live show too. Fairmont is a damn good rock and roll band, that
will throw you a few curves and surprise the hell out of you at times.
They have my vote for one of the Top Ten Albums of the year! - Phil Rainone
FROM SKYLINE PRESS:
http://www.skylinepress.net/review504.php
Plan to start your summer off right? Well, welcome these three Garden
state Jersey boys, Fairmont. Their new album "Wait & Hope"
is hitting the streets on June 12th, you know, the time when you get out
of school and go to the beach or work your hands to the bone for more
cash. Either way, these guys have released three full length albums before,
this being their fourth, and are well versed in a lot of what the indie
scene is about. They also take influences from some of the underground
bands from the 60's and 80's, which should fill their music with all sorts
of genre fluxuating characteristics. Sounds good right? Then lets get
to it.
The influenced mentioned do stick out in a way you notice them but also
observe there is a big difference between the fogy rock of that generation
and Fairmont. A very naturalistic sound is their goal and they pull it
off with old western spirited punk with blues traveler harmonics that
pop in every once in a while. They often have played high profile shows
with bands such as The Strokes, New Found Glory, and Brand New, it becomes
easy to see how they mix their old influences with their more modern counterparts
to form a pseudo intellectual home brew example of coming of age indie
rock.
Classic guitars strum along with a pronounced bass that crashes with a
fluid set of drums to the calming scratchy throat vocals that sigh with
every syllable. It shares similarities with My Chemical Romance's lead
singer Gerard Way. The remember able hooks remind me of a alt rock song
that gets overplayed on MTV but with subset indie sensibilities. Acoustics
also get their due, as many songs are based solely around them allowing
for a very raw sound that is subtle and still strong. The lyrics are based
on a repeat/remember system that has blotches of intelligent thought that
gets displayed a few times in order to never be forgotten.
The bouncing "Happiness Is A Million Miles Away" structures
a thick bass line into the commotion of the tone high guitars and exhausted
vocals. It comes off so catchy with the lines of intersection that all
the parts of the song follow. "Dahlia" caught my attention for
its pure acoustic feel. It must be something about the metal "ching"
sounds that the guitars make because it always gets an A in my book. The
vocals also seem relaxed and more at home while this little ballad swoons
its listeners. The smooth harmony of "At The End Of The Movie"
along with its brutally silly lyrics gives this song a sharp edge that
cuts through the bull so well. It also acts as a song that will get you
pumped for their music, probably a good live song.
Well it seems to me after experiencing Fairmont in all their glory, they
turn out to be a pretty well rounded band. They are remarkably balanced
and sow together different genres to make their own, making it a special
spectacle to hear. "Wait & Hope" is not only catchy but
also an interesting read, as the lyrics are so sarcastic and funny that
you just have to sit down and read them. What a great example of what
an indie/rock band should be, with the youthful energy combining with
the wisdom of experience to form one great record. Now if we could only
get Neil to perk up his delivery of these witty lyrics.
From Independent Clauses - Stephen Carradini
I take Fairmont for granted. I’ve gotten so used to Fairmont putting
out a really good album every year or so that I almost forget to stop
and praise the album like I should. To me, Fairmont is one of those bands
that even if you don’t listen to them for a while, they’re
still there as one of your favorite bands. They transcend the curse of
“out of sight, out of mind,” and that’s incredible when
you take into account how many bands I hear every year.
Take the title track of their latest album, for example. “Wait and
Hope” starts out with a slick piano/bass riff accented by simple
drums and Neil Sabatino’s wonderfully unique vocals. It graduates
into a stomping diatribe before getting quieter into the infectious centerpiece
of the song that’s delivered not with an exuberant explosion, but
a pensive, wry smile. It’s completely unexpected. They throw in
a solo section next, where a harmonica is featured in addition to guitar.
It’s the sort of song that is so completely comfortable and accessible
that it seems like you’ve been listening to it forever.
Part of this songwriting prowess comes from the fact that Neil Sabatino
has been writing bitter, guitar-minded indie-rock like this for a long,
long time. As the central figure in Fairmont, he shines throughout as
lead vocalist and primary songwriter. From the stomping riff in “Suspicion
Haunts the Guilty Mind” to the menacing “Tuesday Night Danbury”
to the wonderfully charming and perky closer “Andy Goldfish Dreams
of the Ocean”, Neil Sabatino changes up the mood with ease throughout,
giving the album the amount of twists and turns it needs to keep a listener’s
attention for 12 songs. One thing stays the same throughout, though: they
all demand to be sung along to. And it’s not the type of sing-along
quality where the whole song is an excuse to have a monster chorus (although
“Today I Was Thinking About You” almost commits that sin)–
it’s the type of sing-along where every single part of the song
is just so well done that you want to hum everything. I memorize these
types of songs very, very quickly, and so will you.
Sabatino, for all of his songwriting variety, doesn’t change up
the mood of the lyrics. He prefers instead to keep a generally sneering
and bitter mentality with the occasional shot of guarded optimism to temper
the otherwise bleak landscape. Titles like “Happiness is a Million
Miles Away,” “Lack of Luster” and “Since Day One
I’ve Been Plotting Your Death” prove the former, while “Today
I Was Thinking of You” proves the latter.
But it’s not all Sabatino – the duo of Hambone and Andy on
bass and drums provide a very important and solid backdrop for Sabatino’s
guitar and vocals. Hambone’s bass antics are especially important
on the title track, while crashing bass and drums make “Fredo”
the impressive song it is.
Fairmont is the cream of the crop when it comes to guitar-based indie-rock,
and they prove it with Wait and Hope, which is guitar rock done so impeccably
that you can’t help but love it. If you like literate, intelligent
indie-rock with a great attention to detail and a liberal dose of attitude,
Fairmont will be in your corner. If you don’t, well, Fairmont can
get you interested in that sort of thing.
Reviews of FAIRMONT's 4th EP "The Subtle Art of Making
Enemies"
Independent Clauses -
"It’s amazing to watch as a band rises up and creates its own
persona, all the while maintaining the advancement of its musical creativity.
Fairmont has, without argument, done just that." - Mark Pranger
Reviews of FAIRMONT's 3rd album "Hell Is Other People"
Renfield / Reinforcement Records
Independent Clauses "Fairmont will always be light-years
ahead of the average indie band" - Stephen Carradini
Boston Tab "There’s actually a very warm and
pleasing tone to the album, well-crafted rock songs delivered without
gimmick or silly flash." -Alexander Stevens
SOHOSTRUT.co.uk "Jersey band Fairmont know how to
deliver the authentic US indie rock vibe." - Rob Massey
The Aquarian Weekly "A strong, confident, self-assured,
commercially accessible effort from an outstanding young band just beginning
to hit its creative stride" - Al Muzer
Jersey Beat "there’s a new player in the Garden State
indie scene". – Jim Testa
The Portland Pheonix - "The only good thing to come out
of New Jersey (other than Bruce Springsteen), is Fairmont" -
Amy Martin
The Portland Press Herald - "They have that jingle-jangle
garage sound that's really quite catchy."
BlowUpRadio.com "Fairmont's first album was called
"pretending greatness is awaiting", well I dub "hell is
other people" to be, "greatness is achieved"." -
Lazlo
The Medium (Rutgers) "Go and get it, this is one album to
add to your collection, you will not regret it."
The Bates Student , Bates College "Fairmont is a talented
band with a confident sound that is really quite a pleasure to listen
to."
Reviews of FAIRMONT's 2nd album "ANOMIE" Reinforcement
Records
Fairmont is one ambitious indie rock band. They sport electric
guitar, acoustic guitar, drums, and no bassist. Just to add to the challenge,
their genre of choice is a highly stylized brand of indie rock, ala Elliot
Smith and Joseph Arthur. With the odds stacked against them, it seems
that Fairmont has given themselves an ultimatum: become indie rock gods
along with Smith and Arthur, or fade off into oblivion.
I can, in good confidence, vouch for the former.
Anomie is basically divided into two sections: the first half a dose of
quirky, high-strung rock, the second a brilliant session of low-key mellow
songs. The first half of the album is solid, but the second half is where
they really shine, as their mellow picking, tempo jumping, and strong
command of melody and countermelody come to the focus.
Their rock is complex in various ways, from odd chord progressions to
multiple vocal tracks to weaving guitar lines. It sounds cluttered, but
they do a good job of pushing the most important elements to the front
without diminishing the power of the backing elements. This makes it focused
and extremely aurally pleasing.
The vocals here are another distinguishing feature. Equal parts pinched
yelp, nasal whine, over-the-top vibrato, and slurry notes, it is the definition
of unique. It takes a couple listens to get used to, but in the end, the
vocals are irresistible. They are most unique when he's convicted about
what he's singing, such as in "Sometimes I'm Bitter" or the
emotionally charged "Burn the Churches".Best feature: Diversity,
beauty, and originality all rolled into one.
When he accompanies more mellow fare, his voice is lower and more pop-friendly,
which makes for some truly beautiful songs ("Knock Me Out",
"2:37 a.m."). In fact, "2:37 a.m." is one of the most
heart-wrenching songs I've heard in a long time, as the hopeless lyrics,
the forlorn vocal delivery, and delicate arrangement work together in
an eerie way.
There are many moments like that on this album, moments where you just
stare in awe at nothing cause the sound is just so perfect. "The
Last Time" has a stellar ending, "Artemis" has a riveting
chorus, "Saved Me" has an excellent intro, the entire 48 seconds
of "Hello Kitty" are fantastic, and the list of moments goes
on and on.
This is an album that should be everywhere. It should be in every indie-rock
fanatic's player, and burned to every computer. This is an album that
will have your head spinning. The members of Fairmont are on their way
to becoming indie rock gods in the eyes of the public. I know they're
already immortalized in my mind. - Stephen Carradini INDEPENDENT
CLAUSES
FAIRMONT – (Anomie) When Neil Sabatino first introduced me to the
new (and presumably, final) lineup of his long-suffering project Fairmont,
I had my doubts – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and drums, with
Neil’s high, thin vocals on topic of the mix? Punk rock needs a
bass, doesn't it? I didn’t know what to think. Several live performances
quickly won me over, and now, the band’s debut full-length provides
yummy proof that less really is more. You need to give the record a chance,
though; on first listen, especially to the first song’s whiney tag
line “everybody’s happy… and then there’s me,”
you might well be rolling your eyes and mouthing “E-M-O.”
Fear not. Sabatino’s voice might at times resemble a lovesick teen
in the throes of puberty (see our interview in JB #74), but the driving
combination of rhythm and lead guitars, snappy but restrained drumming,
and tasteful harmony vocals makes Anomie an indie-pop success. It also
helps that acoustic guitarist Kevin Metz takes a couple of lead vocals,
including the irrepressibly bouncy “Knock Me Out,” one of
my favorite songs on the disc. Love songs? Yes, Fairmont does love songs
– but when a band still has a number as potent, catchy, and attention-grabbing
as “Saved Me (The Jamie Song)” a dozen songs into a full-length
CD, you know you’re dealing with a band that took its time writing
a real album, and not just padding a couple of cool tracks with a lot
of filler. If bubblegum is the soundtrack to puppy love, then Anomie comes
dangerously close; but I’d rather be spooning to this than almost
anything else I’ve heard so far in 2004. (And just to bring things
up to date, the band's added a bassist since they recorded the CD.) Jim
Testa JERSEY BEAT
So the anomie CD...dude I love it!
This album is a masterpiece, seriously. I have listened to it a good 8
or 9 times in the last few days and I justlove it! Songs that I have heard
previous versions of have never sounded as good as they do on this disc.
There are very few CDs I hear that out and out blow me away, but anomie
did. Lazlo - Blow Up Radio.com
Reviews
of FAIRMONT's debut album "pretending greatness is awaiting"
Reinforcement Records
Punk Planet #51 I am somewhat excited about this CD due to it's
ambition. It's in that Weakerthan's vein, crafting songs that border indie
and punk rock while keeping it fresh. Tracks one through eight are plugged
in, and nine through 16 are acoustic. If Fairmont keeps going in this
direction and continue to put in the work, these kids could be amazing
- someday soon. (DM)
Skratch Magazine #73 The latest project from New Jersey indie
rocker Neil Sabatino is a near-perfect blend of acoustic and electric
sensibilities. With a host of guest musicians, Sabitino has put together
this debut album from his "band" Fairmont. The first eight tunes
on the CD, dubbed "the electric sessions," are quality indie
rock in the vein of Barenaked Ladies or The Violent Femmes. While the
tunes are on the softer side of rock, the striking vocals of Sabatino
are reminiscent of Johnny Lydon of PIL. The second batch of eight songs
on the CD, obviously dubbed "the acoustic sessions," are some
of the tastiest folk tunes around. The clever irreverent lyrics of such
songs as "How Summer Tour Made Me An Atheist," 2nd Rate Backstabbing
Band," and "It's Not Rain, God Is Spitting On Us," puts
this release over the top. Currently Sabatino and friends are touring
the Northeast and playing acoustic sets as small venues and electric sets
in larger venues. Check out the band info at their website www.fairmontmusic.com
The Aquarian Weekly Though a little rough at the edges, Fairmont
seem to demonstrate their versatility well. This disc, split between electric
and acoustic sessions, is a grooving indie machine with just enough emo
to tickle the tragic heart.
Melissa Mintz (The Beacon Weekly) "...one of the most talented
bands in the NJ scene today" |
