Fear 2 Stop - Passage

Hear The Track Here

Although I don't get enough time for real interaction on forums any more (blame these damn reviews!) it doesn't mean to say that I am not aware of the comings and goings on there. I saw several postings from F2S mainman Billy Castillo hinting that Fear 2 Stop were going to do exactly that: stop. I don't know about the rest of you SC veterans but if that happens, it would feel like the passing of an era because I have been reviewing this Houston trio ever since I first started reviewing on Soundclick back in 2003. During the intervening years they have managed to bedazzle, befuddle, irritate and confound me as they made their own way towards the sound we have been hearing from them over the past two years. They seem to have come to a natural balance between their earlier anything goes attitude, their choice of sounds (some of the early ones were lets face it excruciating) so that their blend of analog and digital has become a trademark. Fear 2 Stop tracks definitely have a sound and texture all of their own, nothing else quite like them.

Yes, yes, in small doses maybe...

Could have knocked me over with a feeble tap when I first heard this. Stunned? I should ******* coco. After all, the very last band I would ever think to take up (get this) Electronic Ambient is dear ol' cantankerous Fear 2 Stop. Moreover, as Billy says in the song comments, 'This is a great indicator of where our music is heading now...' O!M!G! Does that mean they are now going all light and ethereal on us? All come smell the flowers and eat this absolutely repulsive brown rice and veg and your life will be fixed? Well, no, I don't think so either. Remember this is Fear 2 Stop we are talking about and - to be honest - they wouldn't know a genre classification if they fell over on in the dark.

As I say, they have honed this particular sound for years and, given this track, show no signs of stopping whatsoever. And yes, I can see WHY it's filed under Ambient but only if you understand that it's the merest whiff before Fear 2 Stop pile into their usual schtick. Personally, I find this usual schtick quite listenable, in a dissonant, wandering kind of way - but maybe I have formed a hard shell over the years and I am overly biased towards them. Having said that, Passage isn't - to my ears - going anywhere new and/or unheard by this band so while it's a good Fear 2 Stop track which fans are going to like, I fear it may not travel much further than that. Best not to quote me on that though, I have been known to be wrong about this band on more than a few occasions.

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