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Artist: Fear 2 Stop
Title: A Moment Of Truth
Billy (Castillo, one third of F2S) and I have had lots of moments of truth over the past few years and - bless the guy - he never gets bitter or twisted about any of it. Sure it may sting a bit at the time but you cannot fault an artist that takes the amount of abuse this guy takes and STILL keeps coming back for more. Truth is, I almost HATE to see F2S in my review list because like other members of the 'experimental' Soundclick crowd, I feel compelled to spell out EXACTLY what I feel about this or that track. To say that this must be a bit hard to take is a massive understatement. Having been on the recieving end of some vitriolic abuse myself from time to time, I know how much that can hurt and for sure, you can NEVER become used to it.
The overwhelming area of criticism has always been in production and instrumentation sounds and although the production has improved enormously over the past year or so, I still felt obliged to get serious about the last track I reviewed - and in much the same area too. A Moment Of Truth is an older track (first uploaded in December 2003) and it's surprising that I haven't heard it until now... Funnily enough, it's a very listenable track without too much of the usual F2S weirdnesses creeping in to gum up the works. Although I put that down to it's shortness as much as its general tone, there is a lot to be said for this track and it's odd 'soundtrack' quality.
Billy - and fellow bandmates wife Dana and friend Raymond Proseus - have a tendency to use lots of string sounds and - as is shown in this example - hammered and/or plucked sounds. Not that there is anything wrong with these sounds, used in the right context, and often it can be the making or breaking of the track. However, here is a Fear 2 Stop track that definitely hangs together in its own right, none of the instruments try to take over the whole show and it's even got a halfway decent melody development to it. It's also surprisingly listenable too, which is not something I have have been able to say too much about this band, so it makes a change to be less of a butt muncher than normal. F2S are presently working on some new material - as if the 109 tracks on their page is not enough - and I look forweard to hearing what new directions they will go in over the next few months. However, if you want an example of what F2S do, I'd say this track was a good a starting place as any.
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