Fanfarlo "Let's Go Extinct"

 

Back in the early going of this music blog for old farts I briefly touched on this band's debut (it was coupled with Phish "Joy" and I have their new one in queue, too) and noted that I would keep an ear out for their next recording......which I did......and passed on.  Gave this one a brief sample and was immediately bewildered.  I didn't recall either of the previous albums sounding quite like it.....and I clicked the "download" button.  Mighty happy I did because third time's the charm.



This is a British band that had an art-folk début (trying to be Decemberists UK?) that didn't work and a sophomore effort that switched to New Wave with similar results.  Why this one works is a wonder to me but it does. Very 80's with this nagging similarity to............. ah, damn it, it just wouldn't rise through the catacombs of my cobwebbed brain.  Spin #2 actually produced one song that I noted sounded like Wings!  Hardly New Wave/80's but excellent, nonetheless.   "Oh, man, who does this sound like?"  About a third of the way through the third spin I blurted out, "China Crisis!!!!!"  Yeah, I heard the moans from 98% of you, "Who???" 



The band had four tremendous (and one so-so) albums in the 80's, only two charting briefly in the States, and I like to think I had a hand in those as I pushed and pushed and pushed them on anyone remotely interested in that sound back then.  Well, I don't have the means to push today (not that it made any difference back then, either) but "Let's Go Extinct" is an enjoyable listen with the 80's keys supplemented with horns and strings and the female violinist's accompanying vocals nicely augmenting the male lead.  I've read comparisons to Arcade Fire (not even close), Talking Heads (a stretch, but closer) and Cloud Cult (that's more like it). The album barely scratched the Heatseekers chart here and I couldn't find any overseas showing at all, which is sad because there are plenty of old cats like me who dug the New Wave movement and love the fact that it's now the sound du jour for many young bands across the globe. 



You can get a physical copy for under $9.  It's worth every penny...