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41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Bridging the gap..., August 16, 2002
Think of all the possible stereotypes that come along with pop-punk, (melodic)hardcore, and emo. Think of all the bands you know that fit these genre/labels. New Found Glory? The Deftones? The Starting Line? Saves The Day? Thursday? Good. *Now forget them all*. I present to you the ultimate cross-genre band, Finch. Hailing from Temecula, California, Finch has a distinct sound that is almost impossible to accurately define.On their debut LP (produced by the always magical Mark Trombino) Finch serve the public up with something practically unheard of these days: originality. Absolutely insane guitar riffs, piercing vocals, and obviously heartfelt lyrics run a rampage throughout the aptly titled debut, "What It Is To Burn." Unlike Thursday, Finch have discovered the perfect blend of screaming and singing (listen to "Without You Here" and "Untitled"). Here's a quick run-down of the album: 1-New Beginnings - Excellent opening track. Great double-bass pounding with an amazing breakdown
2-Letters To You - Debuted on the EP, "Falling Into Place." One of the "pop-punkier" songs on the album. The production on this transforms it into a completely different song than previously heard on the EP.
3-Post Script - Genius guitar work. The last part of the song will *take your breath away*
4-Grey Matter - Guest vocals by Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw fame. Daryl contributes the perfect amount of vocal insanity to this track.
5-Perfection Through Silence - Yet another from the EP. Excellent guitars (sensing a trend?). Once again, a completely different song with the production.
6-Awake - One of the oldest songs on the album according to Finch frontman, Nate Barcalow. Sounds like nothing else on the album, but has a appeal all it's own.
7-Without You Here - Starts off slow, goes into a gloomy chorus that seems a bit overbearing at times, but breaks into an ASTOUNDING breakdown/bridge. The guitar work and vocals during the last part of the song will make you want to cry.
8-Stay With Me - The only other "pop-punkish" sounding tracks on the record.
9-Project Mayhem - Yet again a contribution by Daryl of Glassjaw. The screams on this track will make you want to do the same...in a good way. With almost a trace/house like feel, this is definitely a different sound than any other track.
10-Untitled - One of the best songs on the album. The build-up before the bridge will have your heart pounding in your ears. "It's sharpening beneath me, beneath my feet. The earth opens up to swallow me. Take my hand and lead me on." The song launches into Nate's screaming vocals at the song's end, leaving you speechless.
11-Three Simple Words - Intense lyrics on this track. "With my hands around your neck, who will stop me now?"
12-Ender - A perfect album closer, with more amazing guitar work. Leads into an acid like sound filler between the end of this song and the bonus track.
13-What It Is To Burn (bonus) - Possibly the best song on the album. Why it's not a single continues to baffle many of Finch's fans. The lyrics are unlike anything I've ever heard, and the chorus throws the listener into a different realm. In summation, Finch sets the bar for all new acts. Try and label them all you want: punk, melodic hardcore, a Deftones rip-off band. In the end, only one label matters: Truly Amazing.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Yet another Great band off Drive Thru Records, August 30, 2002
I generally buy cds from Drive Thru bands now before I've even heard more than one or two songs off the cd simply because all the bands on the label are so good. Finch is definetly not an exception. The first song I heard by these guys, What it is to Burn, blew me away. Its quite possibly the best song on the cd, the epic that is the perfect ending to the album (which is why im confused as to why its only included as a bonus song on some cds, thankfully my version has it). Intensely emotional, it contrasts loud, powerful choruses with emotional verses and great lyrics.
The cd as a whole is superb. The first three songs are probably my favorite, although it's incredibly hard to pick favorites here. Post Script is the song that Drive Thru is using to promote the band and one listen will show you why, the ending in which they declare "the worst is over for now..." is amazing. Daryl Pulombo from Glassjaw makes a guest appearance singing vocals on grey matter, another solid song that has been stuck in my head more than once; in fact, I could say that about every song on the cd.
For the most accurate depiction of Finch's sound I would say that you should imagine a much more hard rock version of Jimmy Eat World (or at least of their recent stuff-Bleed American). They have a few songs that are pure pop-punk (like Letters to You) and some much harder fare (see Project Mayhem) but the majority of their songs is a fusion of the two styles, and it makes for a really cool, unique sound; i suppose you could compare them to Linkin Park, only with more talent and without the rapping. At any rate this is a cd and a band that pretty much any fan of rock will enjoy greatly. Dont be folled by the fact that I didn't give it 5 stars, I give 5 stars very very rarely. This is a great album that any fan of rock will want to own. Highly recommended.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finch Will Kill You (In a good way), July 25, 2002
I can't even begin to describe this album so I'll walk it through song by song.
1. New Beginnings - This is the perfect song to start an album with, it jumps right into the good stuff, one of the best choruses on the album.
2. Letters to You - This song is probably the reason you're considering buying the cd so I'll assume you've heard it. Stop considering and just buy it, you won't regret it. I've heard about four different versions of this song and this one is by far the best.
3. post script - The guitar part for the chorus on this song is pretty cool, Nate Barcalow's screaming voice gets a five star rating at the part where he yells "then we'll be fine" listen for it, it's saweet!
4.Grey Matter - This song is incredible. Glassjaw lead singer Daryl Palumbo guests on this one and him and Nate trade off in an almost dualing style. They do this again in song number 9. I love the part right after the first chorus where they do like an 8 secong slow part and then jump right back in, it's great.
5.Perfection through Silence - This song has my personal favorite Finch moment. It's the part during the breakdown that starts with "fold the corners, break the silence..." and ends with Nate and Derek screaming "when weakened, when will you rise?" a simple but perfect drum roll takes you right back in to the chorus. Now I wanna go listen to it.
6.Awake - Awesome time signature couresty of Alex Pappas (drummer)that is only made better by a simple two chord progression during the intro, one of the more progressive sounding songs on the album.
7.This song is SOOO GOOD. Starts aout slow, gets harder. It's been done before, but not this good. This song rocks hard, what do they feed these kids?
8.Stay With Me - More punk sounding, more pop sounding, but still really really good. Nate shows again that to be a really good singer, you pretty much have to be born a good singer, and he was.
9.Project Mayhem - the second and final collaboration with the Glassjaw frontman on the album. The title says it all, this song is chaos. A very unique chorus is the high point of this song but even it's low points really aren't low at all. During the second half, producer Mark Trombino did some sampling and programming to give a complete out of control feeling to the song, this song is seriously crazy.
10.Untitled - Possibly the best guitar riff on the album, this song stood out from the get go. You just have to hear it.
11.Three Simple Words - My least favorite song on the album, but that doesn't mean it's not good. It's an awesome song, but not as good as the others. Nate gets violent on this little number.
12.Ender - This song is somewhat in the style of "the new Kid" from their Ep, soft for a while and then gets harder. But this song steps it up a few hundred notches by just plain being a better song. Plus the extremely high production value doesn't hurt.
13.What it is to burn (bonus) - I don't know why they made this a bonus track. they should have made it the single. This song kicks the ... out of me. The best song on the album. PeriodOverall, I would recomend this CD to anyone who likes punk and harder music. I'm excited to see what finch is capable of doing in the future. If you don't have this cd yet you need to get it. I have to buy a new one because I wore my first one. just kidding, it's a cd they don't do that.
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