SPEAKING OF REUNITED POST-HARDCORE GROUPS, THERE’S A NEW FAR SONG OUT

It turns out that Refused are not reuniting after all, and while Rival Schools will release a new album soon there’s been no indication that Quicksand will also. Oh well; it was fun to think about.

Thankfully there’s at least one important late ’90s metal-ish band that will be releasing new music in 2010… and it’s Jonah Matringa’s Far. Far were another one of those bands who seemed to enjoy much more success in critical circles then in, ya know, reality. Their two records, 1996’s Tin Cans With Strings To You and 1998’s Water and Solutions, were way ahead of their time but never got quite the recognition they deserved. As Metal Insider‘s Bram Teitelman put it, Far were “Heavy, but not metal, emotional, but not emo” and for that reason while I’m sure many of you won’t care about Far I’m guessing that any fans of mid/late ’90s metal/post-hardcore bands like Helmet, Refused and Quicksand will care a great deal.

After a decade-long hiatus Far have returned, and after a head-scratching but wildly popular cover of Ginuwine’s “Pony” took the Internet by storm in late 2008 they’ve finally released some new music. Their new album At Night We Live is due out on May 25th via Vagrant Records, and the band has made new song “Deafening” available at their web site for the price of an email address. I really, really like the new song. As Teitelman says, “It’s heavy, riffy, and for a band that’s been dormant for over a decade, sounds very current.” Since Far have been gone, so so so many bands have tried and failed to imitate their sound. Maybe Far should’ve been included on that list we published last week.

-VN