Faltered

Fortune Favours

Written by: HES on 22/08/2013 19:39:45

There's no shortage to the brilliance of Wales-based "Faltered" if you ask local e-zine "themidlandrocks". It's one of the only sources I can find on this 2-piece band. The magazine compares the band to Biffy Clyro and Nirvana - this of course intrigues me. With a great track record, the Welsh highlands have spawned household names like Bullet for My Valentine and Funeral For a Friend already. The band in question consists of only two members, brothers in fact. Daniel Cahalane on guitar(s) and Conor on drums and vocals. And as will soon become apparent, this division of labour is a little troubling to say the least.

First off, the album is quite well recorded for two people - but that's pretty much as far as my praise will go in this review. I applaud the two guys for trying to do what usually takes 5 grown men, but it is unfortunately very evident, that this is not quality work. Conor Cahalane’s vocals have a nice warmth to them, but they are almost constantly a bit out of tune and sound almost out of breath as well (and if that's a problem in the studio, imagine if he has to drum live). This is especially bad on the last track "Thanks a Million". Technically this probably has to do with a lack of professional voice training and breathing exercises. When brother Daniel Cahalane joins in as backup singer on songs like "Pulled Over", it's toe-cringingly horrible as both are out of tune – at the same time. The screams/growls/whatever-they-were-supposed-to-be seem so strained and trying that it comes off directly insincere.

But if you try to zoom out a bit, we actually have a handful of promising instrumental parts on "Fortune Favours the Needy". But the mix makes it very obvious that this has been recorded with absolutely no real interaction between musicians but rather interaction with a mixing station. Some of it is even out of beat, which amazes me, because I don't think I have ever heard an album being out of rhythm before. The recording is missing bass quite a bit and comes off very "short sounded" and with no natural reverb or echo. The drums sound very oil-barrel'ish - but not exactly in a good way. In general the songs lack melody and sound very home-made. I would urge these guys to put their songs down in notes to force themselves to create melodies rather than just sounds.

All in all, this band is a case of false advertising. And the people who over-sold them like this, did not do them a favour. It generally seems like these guys got so much praise from parents/teachers/whatever, that they never learned to reflect on their work. If they'd done that this would've probably been stopped earlier. And I hate that I, as a music reviewer have to slaughter this album in public, instead of someone around them helping them out by playing the devil's advocate - But “Fortune Favors” sounds like the mp3-files my friends used to send me of their own music from their teenage-rooms, long before they ever came to master any of their current musical talents. Conclusively this album happened way too early and I recommend a lot of time in rehearsal before they venture into the studio again.

3

Download: Leave it Out, Worth The Wait
For the fans of: Biffy Clyro, Lower Than Atlantis
Listen: Facebook

Release date 02.09.2013
Self-released

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