Fear 2 Stop - Herbal Coffee

Hear The Track Here

When I first started reviewing on Soundclick, I was probably a nicer man than I am now. Six years ago when I first started reviewing Houston, TX based three piece Fear 2 Stop I used to refer to their music as 'awkward'. This generally applied when the music consisted of dissonance, electronica jiggerpokery and experimental sounds up the wazoo. However, seeing as Soundclick introduced me to the whole gamut of what 'truly weird music' can mean, these days I'm nowhere near as tactful. Call a spade a spade me. So, in the new spirit of things Fear 2 Stop are one of those bands who specialise in WTF? music. So proud are they about this that they have even tattooed it onto their obviously much offended cat (for proof of this perfidious act, see the pic of the song).

Cruelty to animals AND ears. A right twofer...

Surprisingly enough I have a lot of time for fear 2 Stop because they have proved - beyond all shadow of a doubt - that they will do it their way and the rest of us can go hang. I like that attitude, even though some of their tracks leave me more than a tad baffled. Over the years I have grown extremely used to their approach, and the experience has taught the band how to meld the sound to fit their own peculiar vision. About a year or so ago now, I started to notice an increasing effectiveness in their production standards which actually helped (enormously) to put their idiosyncratic style over, and its bought into play on Herbal Coffee to great effect.

The track itself is pretty much what you would expect from Fear 2 Stop, solid bass and drums underpinning the seemingly chaotic and random sounds happening above it. More surprising is that Herbal Coffee actually sounds much more normal a track than any F2S track over the last year, it even has melody and - dare I say it? - an understated funk feel that is something I never expected to write about this band. Its a given that the many people that, like me, have become fans of this band over the years will like this track because it does embody exactly what Fear 2 Stop are all about. If this is a new name to you, its probably best to warn you that they are somewhat of an acquired taste. Herbal, yes, but it ain't coffee...

Highly Recommended zippy Electronica.