Mind Noise Network
Alien Ant Farm -
Always And Forever
By Daniel King - 7 March 2015
Alien Ant Farm are something of a two hit wonder. Born in the mid 90s they released four full length albums between 1999 and 2006. Now, I challenge you to remember more than just two songs from ANThology? Can’t do it? Didn’t think so. Well, everyone remembers their fantastic cover of Jacko’s Smooth Criminal and as soon as it starts everyone remembers the one they actually wrote themselves, Movies. Can Alien Ant Farm make themselves relevant in 2015 with their first release for 9 years?
Now, Always And Forever is not going to be winning any awards in 2015 and it might slip under a lot of people’s radar, but that doesn’t mean it is a bad album, far from it. Opening track Yellow Pages features the vocal style we’ve come to associate with AAF and is a pacey affair sure to get your toes tapping and head bobbing. A surprisingly good start from the Californian four piece and it carries on too, Simpatico is just catchy throughout (be very careful, it gets stuck in your head far too easily!) and Burning changes the atmosphere of the album in seconds, bringing in more of an Indie style sound than the openers. Saying that though, your feet will still be tapping and the riff builds throughout the song until you’ve all but forgotten the softer start to the track.
Our Times has a bit of a Bloodhound Gang feel in parts and brings the first bit of a rap to the mix, luckily it’s the last too. Homage does exactly what it says on the tin. Paying tribute to the bands that helped mould and shape AAF. A lot of them are probably not the kinds of bands you’d imagine being an influence. For example, namechecked are Electric Light Orchestra, The Police and Otis Redding to name but a very small selection. If they’re ever asked who their inspirations are by an interviewer after this I hope the band get up and walk out.
Sidelines is one of the real standout tracks for me. An uplifting piece throughout with a chorus that is ridiculously easy to pick up and, again, catchy enough to stick in your head all damn day. A nice little bit of motivation to go out and get some, after all “Nobody scores from the sidelines”. Crazy Love and American Pie bring a bit of respite in the form of some emotionally charged, ballad style tracks. I’d be lying if I told you they aren’t cheesey, but you’d be lying if you told me you don’t enjoy them just a little bit.
Godlike gets us back on track and is one of the other stand out tracks from the album. Thechorus vocals sound like Shinedown with a bit of personality and there’s another tasty riff on show. Better Weather and Dirty Bombdraw the album to a close and, after almost an hour of listening, you’re left wondering “did I actually enjoy that?”.
To be honest, there is a lot of good about this album. For me it is their strongest album so far, although it doesn’t sound like Alien Ant Farm have changed all that much over the years, which leaves the album sounding a bit dated in places. Saying that though, there’s more right than wrong on show here and you could certainly be listening to a lot worse in 2015.
Now, go and give this a try, it’s Alien Ant Farm…you didn’t expect it to be innovative and fresh, did you? More fool you if you did; their biggest hit is a cover!
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