3 out of 5

Label: Geffen / Flawless

Producer: Dave Sardy

Sorry, but I can’t help but feel like this album is totally saved by its production.  Yes, I’m bias, since I’m in love with Mr. Sardy, but I wouldn’t have even bought the album otherwise, so, uh, there.

You have the band Far.  The kids liked Far, and it gave us Jonah Matranga, who went on to do some emo things.  Far was also helped by its producers – pretty over-emotional lyrics and heavy guitar hooks that were screamo punked up on their first major label album by Brad Wood and given a weightier maturity on their followup by… uh, Dave Sardy.  So here he is, years later, for Far guitarist Shaun Lopez’s band Revolution Smile, giving it that same clean and heavy and yet distorted and messy sound that I love and that generally works so well.  It can’t quite conquer the fact that Lopez’s lyrics are pretty typical kill-me heavy rock stuff and that the songs are mostly quiet-loud-chorus-quiet-loud-chorus tracks that were popular in grungey times, and that the vocals are straight from the angry-guy crowd… but goddamn if the production does perk all that up and make it sound as good as it can.  It’s possible, of course, that it was the band’s input for when to layer things, when to add some keys, and etc., but it’s also possible that I always hear this stuff on Sardy productions in just the right spots to add a dash of what’s needed to a song.

Pretty generic rock, dolled up well.