Farflung - "5" (Album Review)

By: Victor Van Ommen

Album Type:  Full Length

Date Released: 27/05/2016

Label: Heavy Psych Sounds

There’s no doubt in my mind that Farflung has come out strong on this outing. Whatever the band was doing – or not doing – during their six year break seems to have helped. The proof is in the pudding, the curse of an extended break be damned! This band is on fire!

“5” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. Hive

2. Proterozoic

3. 044MZP

4. The 27th Sun

5. Lupine

6. Being Boiled

7. We Are ‘e’ Dismal

8. Jimmy

9. The Retreat

The Review:

Los Angeles five piece Farflung has been scarce since their last album came out in 2008. Tours were few and far between, and aside from a few EP’s and splits, Farflung didn’t really spend much time in the studio, either. But on May 27 that’s all about to change. That’s when Farflung is going to unleash their new space-rock odyssey, “5,”for everyone in the galaxy to hear.

Not all bands are able to bounce back from an extended break and for a band like Farflung, this challenge is pretty loaded. After all, while Farflung was buzzing behind the curtain, their peers took to further developing the SoCal psych scene, the same one that Farflung had a hand in bringing into the 21^st century. But Farflung doesn’t need much more than the fade-in and three snappy snare hits that start off their new album to show that they’ve still got it. Once the beefy guitar riff hits, the album takes off and hits cruising altitude pretty quickly, showing that Farflung has got a handle on what they’re doing. Their mission is to make exciting space rock that moves fluidly through the airwaves, a mission they have no problem accomplishing.

Except for an intro or an outro here and there, the pace is high on “5.” This makes Farflung sound like a space age Fu Manchu that’s traded in their hot rods for space ships. Messy and feral is the theme, which is put to use in both the songwriting and the mix. For some “5” may be too messy, but Farflung is calculated. It’s meant to sound like this. This sound is adventurous, and the listener has a free ticket to come along.  Whether Farflung is digging their hooks in with a catchy “044MPZ” or a trance-inducing ”27^th Sun,” it’s all space rock, all the time. The songs are meant to be played so loud that their crunch and punch shakes the walls of the darkest black holes out there. This gives the listener so much to listen to that there’s little else to do except claw through the mix of swirls and whiny synths in order to get to the wild guitar solos and mysterious vocals.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Farflung has come out strong on this outing. Whatever the band was doing – or not doing – during their six year break seems to have helped. The proof is in the pudding, the curse of an extended break be damned! Farflung is on fire!

“5” is available here

Band info: Facebook