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.
Timbuktu
Fair to Midland Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't be surprised if I drive too far.
Speak now and we're followed while the weakest react.
The nose on the siren is right on our tracks.
A pair of tripods eyes through streets of mercury.
Not as common as leisure days, not as modern as much too late.
He quoted his price and that's what he'll pay.
He spread thick like a heathen, the clouds buried the chalk.
While the suit on our throat 'till our engine stops.
Pearls and oysters every each turn grow the lilac near the grubworm.
Push the button closest to him, give me glue so I can stick to plan.
But instead, sail the desert.
The lyrics of Fair to Midland's song Timbuktu narrate a story of a person who is packing up and leaving with what they consider valuable to be locked up in their car. They are driving too far, and it seems like they are being followed, with the siren's nose right on their tracks. They are being watched by a pair of tripods eyes through streets of mercury. It's not as common as leisure days, and it's not as modern as it's much too late for them.
The singer then goes on to say that he sailed through the catapults between April and May, where he got a quote, and that's what he'll pay. Someone, like a heathen, seems to have spread thick while the clouds buried the chalk. They're suffocating the singer until their engine stops. Pearls and oysters every each turn grow the lilac near the grubworm. They need glue to stick to plan but instead are sailing the desert. The lyrics are cryptic and metaphorical, giving room for interpretation, but they seem to suggest that the singer is trying to run away, possibly from the law, and is struggling to get away.
Line by Line Meaning
Pack up with what's worthy, lock it up in the car.
Gather your valuable possessions and secure them in the vehicle.
Don't be surprised if I drive too far.
Expect that I may take us on a long journey.
Speak now and we're followed while the weakest react.
If we speak out, others will follow and the opposition will resort to their weakest tactics.
The nose on the siren is right on our tracks.
We are being pursued close behind by authorities whose alarms can be heard clearly.
A pair of tripods eyes through streets of mercury.
Two observers attentively examining the city's contaminated streets.
Not as common as leisure days, not as modern as much too late.
Not prevalent as days of rest, nor as up-to-date as the last possible moment.
I sailed through the catapults between April and May
I moved swiftly through a barrage of dangers during the transition from spring to summer.
He quoted his price and that's what he'll pay.
He set a price and will pay only what was agreed upon.
He spread thick like a heathen, the clouds buried the chalk.
He appeared in great numbers like an enemy, and the skies covered our marks.
While the suit on our throat 'till our engine stops.
The pressure from those in power constrains us until our vehicle ceases to function.
Pearls and oysters every each turn grow the lilac near the grubworm.
Even in unfavorable conditions, valuable things can be found and nurtured alongside the pests.
Push the button closest to him, give me glue so I can stick to plan.
Activate the control nearest to him, provide me the tools to adhere to our strategy.
But instead, sail the desert.
In contrast, let us travel through the arid wilderness.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANDREW SUDDERTH, BRETT STOWERS, CLIFFORD CAMPBELL, JOHN MATTHEW LANGLEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
spidey2797
I love this song so much. What a great song.
John Penkal
I know that their lyrics are cryptic, but hey... that means they can mean anything. I just went through an ordeal that this song goes perfect to. Especially the first few lines.