Dress It Up In Stolen Silver And Garbage

April 8, 2018 9:56 AM

Sadly, Fair To Midland is not a band anymore. But before they broke up, they released 2011's Arrows & Anchors, a very melodic metal album which explores sonic textures with enigmatic lyrics. Side A: Heavens To Mugatroyd, Whiskey & Ritalin, Musical Chairs [video], Uh-Oh

Side B: Amarillo Sleeps On My Pillow, A Loophole In Limbo, Typhoid Mary Sends Her Best, Short-Haired Tornado

Side C: The Upset At Bailey Bridge, Rikki Tikki Tavi, Golden Parachutes, Bright Bulbs And Sharp Tools, Coppertank Island

Side D: Three Foolproof Ways To Buy The Farm, The Greener Grass

posted by hippybear (5 comments total)

This is a band I figured my husband would love - heavy but melodic. Neither of us is quite sold yet on a first listen, but we're going to keep going and see if they stick. I like the Queensryche -ish flair but feel like the way the music is mixed has sunk the vocals down in a way I don't love.
posted by PussKillian at 2:10 PM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Wow! As someone with a somewhat wide and fairly deep love of harder / faster / melodic rock/punk I can't believe I've never heard of them before. I guess the "Metal" label might have steered me away from bumping into them, as I've never really found a metal band that checked off all the right boxes for me... but these guys definitely do! Folks who love the harder, faster, melodic Foo Fighters, Andrew WK, or even Bad Religion, but aren't allergic to metal, classical, prog and synth elements (among others) should give this a shot. I'm halfway through the album as I write and I'm loving this a lot - thanks hippybear!
posted by acroyear at 2:32 PM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oh, this band. If you on first listen are wondering what the hell you're hearing, welcome to the club.

OP called me one day -- dude, you've got to hear this, you'll love it. He pestered me for weeks, sent me a couple CDs. ALRIGHT, ALREADY. I took off on a road trip and popped this in the player. It was confounding and delicious, and I couldn't let it go. What are they saying? These lyrics are insane! How the hell do you write music like this? The variety of sound, the textures, the delicate vs crushing, the vocals, the structure. I got pig-headed about it, like I'm gonna figure this out, and got totally sucked in to this album and Tales From a Mayfly. Printed all the lyrics. Tried to parse it. Listened and listened and listened and listened.

I got out of it what I got. I fucking love this music. It just kills me they vanished. There's no info I've found as to why.

One of the greatest regrets in my concert-going history was finding out three days after the fact that FTM had played in Portland, in what would be their last appearance there. Such an opportunity lost, but figured hey there's next time. It doesn't look like there will be a next time. Here's a sample of FTM live, "Dance of the Manatees".

Click the links. In order. Get lost in it.

I'd rather find Jesus outside of a book, the same thing goes for Robin Hood
posted by wallabear at 5:50 PM on April 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Darroh's brother is my nephew, so I have known about these guys for quite some time. I always felt that they were just slightly off the line for mainstream acceptance... and some of their stuff is just weird. But I do think the last offerings were suitable for mainstream radio, which makes it a little sad that they broke up right after the release. Musical Chairs is probably the most mainstream attempt by the band, in my opinion.

For what it's worth, Darroh is one kick ass singing machine. His vocal range is spectacular. the link to Musical Chairs doesn't seem to be the official video, so here ya go.
posted by bradth27 at 10:35 AM on April 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

one of my favorite bands. saw them live twice. once in phoenix, and once in tucson which may have been the night that the bass player quit the band. it fell apart shortly thereafter. such a shame, they were so great.
posted by sineater at 9:21 PM on May 2, 2018