Fear 2 Stop - Tears Of A Clone

Hear The Track Here

When I moved my reviews from other sites to Soundclick in early 2003, one of the very first artists I reviewed almost made me run away and start somewhere else instead. Luckily us Gilmore's are made of sterner stuff than that, and obviously I'm still here so... You would think, then, after all this time that I would be over the terror that the sight of a Fear 2 Stop track in the review list inspires. Well, not terror exactly but there is always a little twinge of impending doom - usually because trying to describe what they actually do is a sure sign that a major literary headache is on the way. They describe themselves as bizarre experimental electronica and I'd agree with that with a lot more emphasis on the bizarre than anything else.

Right from the start of this five minute venture into the wilder realms, you know this couldn't possibly be Kansas anymore Toto. Or even Texas (where the band hail from) or anywhere on the planet even. So don't come whinging to me that I didn't warn you. Listening to Fear 2 Stop has always been - as I've been trying to make clear - akin to walking a musical tightrope and it takes a long time to begin to appreciate where they are coming from. Had I been fresh to the band, I would probably have taken the running away mode described above because - no matter which way you look at it - Fear 2 Stop are and always will be difficult. No two ways about it. If I didn't know this band over a long, long period I would have said I think these guys are lunatics.

Of course, because I know them, I also know - beyond all shadow of a doubt - that they are lunatics, and always have been. It's an inspired, chaotic lunacy that has definite high points but it would probably help if you liked music that totally defied description. Take Tears Of A Clone, for example. Imagine someone chopped a track up into scattered peices, threw them up in the air and used them as they fell. Then they embellished the track with oodles of odd noises and wild veers of direction. Alll of which, as you can imagine, would take some getting used to. As far as F2S goes, this is an excellent track and almost exactly the kind of thing I know and love them for. Definitely no one around quite like these guys.

Highly Recommended Electronica.