Staff Reviews

Fang Island - Major

Review by Russell Warfield

The exact antithesis of everything which Fang Island have claimed to deliver, or implied that this record would be.»

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brooklyn's beloved guitar-anthem optimists fang island return with an album befitting its title : 'major.' like the painstakingly chiseled marble of the album artwork, major is hefty, solid, monolithic and regal. whereas fang island described their celebrated 2010 self-titled sargent house debut as, "everyone high-fiving everyone," major is evermore confident, triumphant and brimming with infectious enthusiasm. its warm harmonies are given proper berth with more expansive dynamics and focused pop song craft. "one of our core ideas has always been that our songs would be all of your favorite parts of the song that other bands make you wait 8 minutes to get to," explains guitarist/vocalist jason bartell. "we wanted to be the band that's nothing but your favorite hooks back to back." major shows fang island deftly achieving that aim. kicking off with the overlapping neoclassical piano pirouette and chiming harmonized guitars of album opener "kindergarten", fang island makes it clear from the outset that this is an album of musical and sonic growth, while at the same time a chorus of voices repeat the mantra, "all i know/ i learned in / kindergarten."
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