For Against C/D, S/D

Search: Mason's California Lunch Room, Shelf Life.

December is being reissued by WoM in the new year. i consider this to be excellent news...

Does the CD rerelease come with a stalk of wheat like the original LP did?

There's definitely an improvement in the guy's voice as well, I dunno if he just learnt to use it better or the production helped or both, there's just something I find really likeable about it.

The other thread says they've reformed, any word on what's happening with that?

I freely agree -- it's a quantum leap, December is THE album of theirs still to get. (Also, an AMG review rather than NYLPM, surely. ;-))

I haven't played December in a very very long time. Their latest one, Coalesced is very nice, though. (that is one hard word to spell - coalesced)

the re-ish of December is out 23rd August. excited! new artwork is lovely too.

What's the first line in the chorus of "Clandestine High Holy"? The closest I can get to discerning it is "I held up their passage" although I know that's not the lyric. I've been playing that song all day, though. Those first two albums have very quickly joined the ranks among my favourite records. I'm almost always in the mood to hear them.

December 24, 2006
For Against, starting its 24th year as one of America's most beloved trios, is now officially in the studio recording their as yet untitled 7th album to be released by Words On Music in 2007. The band has worked up more than a dozen songs over the past two years with original guitarist Harry Dingman rejoining the group in 2004 - sixteen years after his departure. Dingman joins original singer/bassist Jeffrey Runnings and drummer Paul Engelhard who has played in For Against since 1990. For Against will be playing two shows in Athens, Greece in mid-March which include some of this new material.

(hands up if anyone else here has seen For Against live)

this thread is very difficult to search for!

the new album is great - perhaps not quite 'coalesced' great, but how do you follow up one of the greatest dream pop albums of all time? easily their second best album anyway, all the anger and force of december with the songwriting maturity of coalesced.

i don't know if i prefer angry runnings to happier runnings but dude has a way with a bitter lyric

difficult to pick a favourite (on my third listen now) but underestimate and why are you so angry are up there. section 25 cover is nice but interestingly one of the weaker moments here..

dingman is definitely a wilder/darker guitarist than the other dude

so good

anyone else heard this yet? it's growing nicely..

there's a similar vibe in this record to sleater-kinney's the hot rock, although maybe a bit more angry

My thoughts

i think the section 25 parallels are very apt.. quite a rare thing to hear bands making what feels like their most alive/'passionate' music two decades or more after they began

your review has already been quoted in the words on music news ned!

Really? Neat.

this album is really great, guys

listen to it

I have been!

I like listening to Echelons at work, like, all the time, it helps me concentrate somehow. I think because it sends me back to my teenage years even though I'd never heard it when it came out - which is odd, because 1987 Cure/Bunnymen/Xymox etc loving me would have eaten this shit up.

they have a new EP due out in a month or two, yay

happy happy happy happy happy

Just a little over one year after the release of their critically lauded Shade Side Sunny Side record, For Against’s eighth album, Never Been, will be released on Words On Music this Autumn (ETA: late October). The new record is the second with original guitarist Harry Dingman since his return to the band in 2004 after a 15-year absence, and the first with drummer Nick Buller, who has toured with the band on their last three European tours.

Never Been contains nine new songs: "Sameness," "Different Departures," "Black Willows," "Antidote," "Of a Time," "Per Se," "Specificity," "The Tenebrists," and "You Fade."

Words On Music will announce preorders for the release in the coming weeks.

Hooray! I read a review of a recentish show that just sounded tremendous. Can't wait!

Great to see these folks all just keeping on. :-)

http://www.words-on-music.com/WM27.html

i am so fucking excited

New album's very good indeed, one of their best I'd say.

*jealous* mine's still in transit!!

VERY good, the more I listen. There's some strong moments of ominous drama and variety on here I've never heard them try to my knowledge, while still very much sounding like themselves.

i think yet again there's a very different mood to this record - where coalesced is the 'up' record and Sx4 is the 'angry' record, this one feels a lot more intense and resigned, and possibly their gothiest since december. i've only heard it through five times so far but i already know it's one of their best and will definitely end up amongst my top three for the year

if i had to complain i'd say that the two instrumentals make it feel a bit EPish overall, but then coalesced only had 7 tracks, one an instrumental, and is as perfect as a record can be.

Man, these guys just keep coming up with the good stuff huh

i'm hearing a bit of early puressence in this record too

I was just gonna come looking for this thread. Is Shade Side Sunny Side worth getting? I just had a quick listen on emusic and the first track sounds phenomenally dark and gloomy, I liked it a lot. I'm much more a fan of Echelons than anything later so I'm thinking I would?

it's a very dark and quite angry record - i adore it, but then i would. 'underestimate' and 'why are you so angry' from it are among my very favourite FA songs

I will obtain much downloads now then woot.

Oh good lord "why are you so angry" is a sad song.

i think i've probably posted this elsewhere but the whole album sounds to me like a kiss-off to a dying former friend

Dying in the literal sense? I'll have to listen to the whole thing when I get home, reluctant to hammer the emusic at work.

dying or sick, maybe..

'of a time' is *devastating*

"new" 7" of very early unreleased recordings out in a couple of months, first of a series apparently, yay

http://www.words-on-music.com/WM29.html

the 45 is way delayed but soundclips are up on the above link, the tracks sound pretty great to me

And the CD version of said early tracks just arrived in the mail. Lovely stuff.

woo

hope there's a new album on the way..

signed to captured tracks?

looks like it

well this looks like it will be fucking beautiful

http://pitchfork.com/news/47006-captured-tracks-to-release-for-against-box-set/

So, I came to these guys late (about ten years ago) and I've found their three 90's pretty evasive in second hand shops. The albums I'm talking about are Aperture, Mason's California Lunch Room and Shelf Life.

I've never actually heard any of these — can anyone more well-versed in these guys expound how they place in the bigger picture of the band's discography?

aperture is probably the most "80s indie rock" of the lot, quite a tinny sound but good songs.

mason's is imo their weakest and most samey-sounding but it's still a decent record.

shelflife definitely shows where they were headed with coalesced, though the sound is still a little thin. probably my favourite record of their IPR period, 'lilacs' and 'shadow' rate among their best tracks

These guys were devastating at the Big Takeover 30th anniversary show, much much more muscular and intense than on record.

i'm hoping this reissue stuff is a precursor to some new material v soon

So that box set should be out soon. Meantime, if anyone needs it...

http://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/2012/03/for-against-shelf-life-1997-independent.html

(Not on iTunes, Amazon copies are $30 and up.)

recommended album, 'lilacs' and 'shadow' both among my top FA tracks

Indeed!

Meantime, an update -- Captured Tracks have pushed back the release by a couple of months, so look for the box in December or January.

no more new material, apparently

http://www.sicmagazine.net/articles/1281/interview-jeff-runnings-from-for-against

Great interview. Kind of a downer tone to the whole thing not just that announcement, though.

xpost: Thanks for that link, Ned. Would love to see proper reissues of that stuff. But I'll take what I can get in the meantime.

One listen to Shelf Life and I have to say yes to the person upthread that said it's a good starting point for where they would go with Coalesced.

However, I got to the last track ('Seascape') and let out a small squeal when I realized it's a cover of the Tracey Thorn song! And a good one, too!

i guess it shouldn't surprise me that drinking played a significant part in his music, there is a strong vibe of dependence running through a lot of his latterday lyrics

it would be a damn shame if runnings didn't do a solo record at some point. someone needs to lean on him a bit

box is up for preorder

http://capturedtracks.com/catalog/store/ct-167-168-169-for-against-box-set/

That price tag, oof!

looks like IPR have reissued 'shelflife' digitally, hopefully more to follow

hopes rewarded, masons c.l. & aperture now back in print digitally

Nice!

Meantime:

http://www.amazon.com/Shelf-Life-For-Against/dp/B000005LBI/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_9

Audio CD, 1997 -- New: $1,342.94 Used: $74.92

Hooray oh wait

There's two at that price!

One in Texas, one in Japan.

That's just about as hilarious and awesome as I could hope for.

This was very fun/satisfying to write:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18980-for-against-box-set/

nice one

Great read Ned. I love that Captured Tracks is doing such great work reissuing all of this stuff, but I do wish they'd do an occassional CD release for these box sets too.

The CD versions were already out on Words on Music so this is more exactly for the vinyl crowd.

the song Coalesced. now that is how you write a fucking coda.

The CD versions were already out on Words on Music so this is more exactly for the vinyl crowd.

Gotcha! Thanks for clarifying. I guess I was assuming again based on the Cleaners From Venus sets. Or are those out on CD somewhere too?

new material forthcoming in the form of a runnings solo record

http://lazy-i.com/2015/01/jeff-runnings-for-against-signs-to-saint-marie-new-album-in-late-summer/

It's out now! And really good. All my moody gay summer anthems are on here. It's basically what you'd expect a Harry Dingman-less For Against album to sound like in 2016, but also something of a departure. If, like me, you love Bob Mould's Modulate...

Also Runnings has a way of writing lyrics where you can't tell if he's singing about relationship troubles or just honoring the other person's layers of unknowability. He's recently married I seem to recall.

Quick note that a PledgeMusic campaign to get the 90s albums back in print is at 99% with just a couple of days to go.

https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/foragainst

Filled in a corner by ordering the repress of _Shelf Life_ on CD, the one album I've never physically owned. So hey, help 'em out if you can!

Quick addition that they made their goal so these will be coming along.

got those 90s reissues in the mail today -- sounding great :)

Damn, sad news here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jeff-runnings-battle-stage-4-cancer

That's really awful, rooting for him. Thanks for sharing the link

horrible news

An update. The GFM remains open. Per Jeff's husband Sean:

Update on Jeff Runnings - he is currently at home on hospice care. He made the decision to be at home with his husband and kitty and enjoy the rest of his time as happy as he can be and keep the pain away. Please reach out to me directly if you have any messages for Jeff. We love you all.

that really hurts

There was a lovely tribute show a few weeks back in Omaha; I could not attend, but everything I heard about it was glorious. I am glad Jeff got to experience it.

Sadly, his husband Sean has posted this today:

Jeff has been admitted to a facility so I may focus all my love directly to him as we deal with the end of his journey. Please do not send him any messages as he will not be able to read them. We have appreciated everyone's support.

I will always treasure them. Always. Peace and love to Jeff Runnings, forever.

Per a post earlier from Sean, today Jeff departed this life. Cancer is a thief of time and love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9utYGJFKA0A

So sad. RIP Jeff.

Very sad news. What a songwriter.

yeah, that's right. that's the way it is.

He was working on a solo album and per his wishes it will be released later this year by Independent Project. It will be lovely to hear when it arrives.

I don’t really have anything to add here except this. Thirty years ago*, me and a friend drove out to Mesa, Arizona for a weekend shoegaze festival called All Fish Go To Heaven. It was loosely affiliated with IPR, so Scenic played along with local faves Half String and Alison’s Halo, fellow travelers like Aberdeen, the hapless Super 31, one of The Apples In Stereo first shows. One band stood out, like way way “wow” out… For Against

This is a shit and embarrassing expression to use now, but at the time I really did consider them as the American version of The Smiths. Mason’s California Lunchroom had just come out so it’s still my fave now.

*even now, I can get wound up and super long-winded about that road trip. That was the weekend we saw For Against and found that Moog Opus 3 in a Phoenix thrift shop. It still works - it’s right in the next room. I took it when we evacuated during the fire.