Means to an End - Farse > Reviews (1)

General Info

Farse are a heavy ska band or Skacore band from Birmingham, They formed in 1996 and immediately released several EP's, In 2001 they Released this album "Means to an end" with songs from their ep's re recorded and new Material, Later in 2003 they went on a European tour with the then succesfull ska band "[Spunge]" They played Exeter Lemon Grove and this is where i saw them, My first ever gig in fact, i ended up falling in love with them. In 2003 they also released their second album "Boxing Clever" They went on to tour alot and i saw them several more times before they disbanded in late 2004. They done a reunion tour in 2009 playing a few shows in Birmingham and the "Slam Dunk" Festival dates aswell. At their "Last ever gig" in Birmingham in 2009 they said that they would not be breaking up and would in fact be getting back together for good and recording new material.

This was the last anyone heard of them.

Line up

Ollie Patrick - Vocals
Chris Badham - Bass
Dan O'Connell - Drums
Ade Preston - Guitar
Dean Ashston - Guitar

Other Bands

Ade was in the semi successful pop punk band "Beat Union"
Ade was also a Session member of "The King Blues"
Dean was in Shortcut to Newark who went onto become "Beat Union"
Dean was a touring member of ska veterans "Mad Caddies"

Track By Track

1. Firing line - This song starts off slow before speeding up into a offbeat ska beat, then going really heavy almost like "nu-Metal" heavy, Ollie sings in such a curious, quirky way, It's hard to make out any lyrics but you will still be attempting to sing along.

"Torn Photographs still the picture remains"

2. Humour me - This one starts alot more punky, this is one of the heavy songs on the album and it does not tend to have that hop to ska as much as the other songs but the ska breakdown is present. I love the guitar riffs especially for the heavier parts.

"We can start breathing oxygen once more, once mooooooore"

Last Time - good solid start, jumps in at the heavy end, but quickly goes back into the ska breakdown, the skanking guitar is really catchy i love how quickly this song transforms from heavy to ska. It's almost instant, a favourite of mine.

"This is the last time we trtrtrtrtrtry"

Youth On paper - Heavy drum roll start with accompanying guitars going into a intro solo which is always dangerous when recording, This is another favourite song of mine, I love the lyrics (mainly about having nothing to do, quite fitting for when i was younger) This song is really solid and enjoyable.

"The local kinds won't write a play tonite, (all they'll do) is sit on their behinds"

Shoes a lady - I always wondered why this song was named so, never found out why, This is one of the slower songs, Until the end at least it has a slow temo. It is quite short, it is a solid recording and is a amazing song, But as the album has much better i tend to skip this one.

"but i won't back this time oh no"

100 times - This is a love song, and one of the only songs where you can hear ollie's lyrics clearly because he does not sing them in his usual voice, the lead guitar is solid and the rhythm really accompanies it in a magnificent way.

"When i'm falling, i'm falling for you"

Another Cliche - First song i heard by this band, i downloaded it from their website at school, It is another heavy start, This has some wicked skanking guitars and keyboards, another Farse Classic.

"You've got to part ways"

Going up - This is a interlude, The bass leads, very jazzy and has a Pink Panther vibe with it

"doob dooby doob dooo"

Blueprint to a downfall - My favuorite farse song, i used to love hearing this song live, the organs are brilliant and it switches from heavy to ska so suddenly it takes your brain a second or so to catch up, This song sums up Farse the best, if you don't buy the album at least give this song a listen. Watch out for the modern day metalcore breakdown :-O

"This time (woooooooo) when things go wrong i feel i can move on"

99 Green bottles - Acoustic song about drinking, This is an amazing piece of music, almost Reggae like musically, a good chill out piece of music.

5 in a room - I love the intro on this song, its so classy and 80's tv show themed, The laughs always make me laugh aswell, This song is very fast, and it only gets faster before breaking into the heavy stuff

"One last kiss for me"

Rain again - I never liked this song until i got older, it is very slow ska song, i enjoy it now, because of i appreciate the slow as well as the fast, i just never got this song live.
it does speed up.

"Inside looks like rain again into the corner of my mind"

Return of the allstarts (into the sunset) - another instrumental composition, full length a very good close to the record but not one that was needed in my opinion.

Conclusion

Farse had a short career, and their second album never matched this one, this record is now like gold dust and is hard to find but sucka punch records do digital downloads of it. If you want a physical copy it is going to be close to £30.

This album is for anyone who enjoys ska and punk and british music, there is always the chance they could come back with something new, they did say they were back, but that was back in 09 and that was the last that was heard of them, so buy this and don't hold your breath for a comeback.