Anyone who thinks the phrase “it’s all been done before” carries real weight clearly has yet to encounter Fair to Midland. Dark, heavy, moving, cryptic, progressive art rock collides with flourishes of old-school country, Americana and Delta Blues in their sound. These Lonestar boys' genre-defying and boundary obliterating ocean of sound righteously upends the old phrase “fair to middling” from which their Texas-ified moniker was drawn.
Arrows & Anchors, the five-piece band’s first album in partnership with eOne Music, is meaner, sadder and altogether more desperate of an affair than its predecessors. “It’s a very bitter album,” offers vocalist Darroh Sudderth. “The last album had some light at the end of the tunnel in some of the subject matter. This one doesn’t have that quite so much.”
This particularly invigorating yet undeniably gut-wrenching collection of songs is the product of a string of years of career strife since the group last poked their head into magazines and record shops. Arrows and Anchors follows a change in record label, a change in management and one (“maybe two,” Sudderth laughs) changes in booking agent. All of that change and upheaval definitely played a role in the creative process; artistic lemonade from business lemons.
There has never been a lack of faith from the diehard admirers who have steadily adopted the band as their own in growing numbers since Fair to Midland’s initial pair of self-released albums, The Carbon Copy Silver Lining (2001) and inter.funda.stifle (2004). Both were explorations into the furthest reaches of the musical psyche that earned them praise from critics, fans and fellow musicians. Fair to Midland are a true “band’s band.”
So much so, in fact, that eclectic musical connoisseur and multiplatinum recording artist Serj Tankian, best known as the frontman for System of a Down, signed them to his Serjikal Strike imprint, which released The Drawn & Quartered EP (2006) and the band’s third full-length album, Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True (2007).
A killer live show and intensive roadwork as a headliner, at prestigious festivals such as Coachella, Download, Rock AM Ring and Rock IM Ring and together with bands like Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Flyleaf and Dir en Grey has brought the band’s skillful and adept approach to art rock infused prog-metal to international attention.
There are a few of their by now trademarked tongue-in-cheek dalliances to be sure but for the most part Arrows and Anchors is Fair to Midland’s most cynical offering. By the same turn, it’s a performance album with a laser-like focus on the raw passion and intensity. In an age of overly processed heavy music, the band partnered with producer Joe Barresi (Queens of the Stone Age, Coheed and Cambria, Melvins) who sequestered them into his self-appointed House of Compression in Pasadena, California and wrenched out top-tier performances.
The recording captures an authenticity and a sincerity that’s lacking in most modern records. “We always want to work with someone who is interested and enthusiastic to work with us,” Sudderth explains. “Because at the end of the day they’re going to spend that much more time wanting to make the record their own, as well. We didn’t want to worry about everything being immaculate, pristine and polished. This is absolutely a performance-driven record.”
Arrows & Anchors is also a testament to Fair to Midland’s personal chemistry and unique collaborative perspective. Some songs were written together. Others were demoed out by a particular member – say keyboardist Matt Langley or his six string cohort, Cliff Campbell – right down to the programmed drums. “Or maybe I brought a completed song where I programmed whatever instruments I can’t play,” Sudderth elaborates. It was a very open process.
The bizarrely creative and inspired vocals and guitar work in Fair to Midland play against the counterintuitive and monstrously rhythmic backbeat of drummer Brett Stowers and bassist Jon Dicken. Matt Langley’s ethereal electronics enhance everything else. The group’s canvas is as expansive and breathtaking as the state of Texas itself.
Fair to Midland is one of the rare bands who expertly walk the fine line between accessibility and integrity, between open lines of communication and introverted psychic exploration. “We’re not gifted songwriters,” Sudderth says with genuine self-effacing humility. “So we have to be really resourceful and that’s a talent in and of itself. We do our best.”
Fair to Midland's current lineup consists of Darroh Sudderth (vocals, banjo, mandolin, bass), Cliff Campbell (guitar), Matt Langley (keys), Ryan Collier (bass), and Logan Kennedy (drums).
In November 2011, the band released their first DVD, Welcome to the Dirt, consisting mainly of band shots and fan footage of live shows. The DVD is distributed exclusively through their own merchandise site. The profit from this release helped fund a professional video recording of the band's show at The Machine Shop in Flint, Michigan on December 17. This footage will be released worldwide on DVD on March 27, 2012. Arrows & Anchors will was released on double vinyl on March 26, limited to 250 copies.
Kyla Cries Cologne
Fair to Midland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It is the same old pattern - the goose that feeds the gander.
They choose to act but not I.
Let's go outside and it might restore us.
More for the fire that fights for the freeze now mechanical.
So the the pair proceeded
"It is the fly trap's color that caused the fall into her"
What is the shade that you saw?
Bound by the salt not your earth, the hat mocks the rabbit while the bee stings the shark.
Stop the start, these are my disguises.
Vinegar and water gave the end away.
Bought my stocks and lost 'em while the suitcase said:
"Let's go outside and it might restore us".
Fair to Midland's song "Kyla Cries Cologne" is a cryptic and enigmatic track. The lyrics appear to be about a pair of individuals who seem to be successful from afar but upon closer inspection, they are not what they seem. The singer sees through the façade and recognizes that the pair they are referring to might have fooled others, but not them. The line "Let me introduce you to a pair that strikes crude oil, but I see pyrite" reveals that the singer sees the pair as fools' gold, meaning that they are not as valuable or successful as they appear to be.
The singer then goes on to say that there is a pattern of deception, where the pair is the goose that feeds the gander, in other words, they are manipulating others for their benefit. They choose to act, but not the singer who sees through them. The line "It is the fly trap's color that caused the fall into her. What is the shade that you saw?" is a metaphor for the danger of falling for appearances and not seeing the truth beneath the surface.
The song also touches on the idea of disguises and masks that people wear to hide their true selves. The line "Stop the start, these are my disguises" suggests that the singer is tired of pretending and wants to reveal their true self. The end of the song brings in the themes of loss and regret, with the lines "Bought my stocks and lost 'em while the suitcase said: 'Let's go outside and it might restore us.'" The singer had invested in something that they lost, and the suitcase suggests that perhaps a change of environment could restore them.
Line by Line Meaning
Let me introduce you to a pair that strikes crude oil, but I see pyrite.
I am aware of a couple who seem to be successful, but I believe they are deceiving us.
It is the same old pattern - the goose that feeds the gander.
This is a common occurrence, where one person benefits at the expense of another.
They choose to act but not I.
They have decided to take action, but I have not made that choice.
Let's go outside and it might restore us.
Maybe going outside will help us feel better.
More for the fire that fights for the freeze now mechanical.
The battle between warmth and cold has become automated and lost its naturalness.
So the the pair proceeded.
Thus, the couple continued on with their actions.
Another pulse defeated - can't say that I am surprised.
Once again, someone has failed, and I am not shocked.
"It is the fly trap's color that caused the fall into her"
The reason for her downfall was something insignificant and almost unnoticeable.
What is the shade that you saw?
What detail did you notice that caused this outcome?
Bound by the salt not your earth, the hat mocks the rabbit while the bee stings the shark.
Things are not as they should be, with the hat making fun of the vulnerable rabbit and the bee attacking the strong shark.
Stop the start, these are my disguises.
I want to stop pretending and be my true self.
Vinegar and water gave the end away.
The solution was simple and within reach, but it still led to the end of something.
Bought my stocks and lost 'em while the suitcase said:
I made an investment that failed, and the suitcase seemed to mock me for it.
"Let's go outside and it might restore us".
Once again, going outside is suggested as a possible solution to the current predicament.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANDREW SUDDERTH, BRETT STOWERS, CLIFFORD CAMPBELL, JOHN MATTHEW LANGLEY, JON DICKEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind