December [ENHANCED]

For Against

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 27, 2005)
• Original Release Date: September 27, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced
• Label: Words On Music
• ASIN: B000BGQTMQ
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #176,000 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review
One of the finest dream pop records made. --Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Product Description
In 1988 FOR AGAINST recorded the distinguished DECEMBER album for INDEPENDENT PROJECT RECORDS. DECEMBER is a fan favorite and is unparalleled in the annals of post-punk for its unique blend of aggressive, atmospheric, and melodic songwriting. The album is also now largely considered to be a forerunner of the dream pop scene popularized in England just a few years later (PALE SAINTS, KITCHENS OF DISTINCTION). WORDS ON MUSIC’s remastered release of DECEMBER puts the classic album back in print for the first time in more than a decade – issued in a six-panel digipak design by two-time Grammy nominee BRUCE LICHER, including two rare, recently recovered FOR AGAINST VIDEOS shot in 1987, never before commercially available. A ferocious rhythm section launches December with "Sabres" as drummer Greg Hill finds room for fills in spaces upon which most drummers would not even dare to encroach. Singer Jeffrey Runnings continues to intrigue by conveying his dark (and at times obscure) lyrics in a deceptively boyish delivery. Runnings' punctuated bass lines propel "Stranded in Greenland," while guitarist Harry Dingman's melodies weave ever more pronounced circles around the rhythms within. "Svengali" recalls the best of Chronic Town-era R.E.M. with Hill’s quick tom-tom fills and Dingman’s nimble, repetitive picking intervals in the spotlight. On “They Said,” Runnings' vocals and Dingman's melodies gracefully dip in and out of the chorus and a coda replete with orchestral-sounding 12-string sweeps escorts the song to its melancholic end. Brooding elements from FOR AGAINST's debut album Echelons remain, most evident in the prominent basslines of the 6/8-metered "The Effect." Echoed guitar work and repetitive JOY DIVISION-esque basslines create a dark structure onto which Runnings' chilling vocals are on prominent display. A crushing two-note guitar melody lingers during the sparse passages of the album’s measured title track. Improbable harmonics add sparkling touches to "The Last Laugh" and “Paperwhites.” The album closes with "Clandestine High Holy” on which Dingman's guitar teeters on the edge of feedback while Runnings pounds out fierce basslines that would make GANG OF FOUR blush. Ending the album in spectacular fashion, Dingman propels the band through a minute-plus coda with cascading chord progressions that simply bring chills to the spine.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent album from an overlooked group, November 25, 2005

By	somethingexcellent (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews

With their second in a series of two releases by the Lincoln, Nebraska band For Against, the Words On Music label takes another notch out of the rare CD ebay market by offering up the groups long out-of-print second album December. Just last year, the label gave their debut Echelons (which was only released on LP originally) a grand welcome back into the world, and December is now being given a similarly fancy treatment.

In addition to being packaged in a nice two-fold digipack, the album has been remastered and even features two little-seen videos from the group. Although Nebraska has now become a musical hotspot because of Saddle Creek Records, one has to admit that the group sounded pretty far ahead of their time considering the original album release date of 1988. Absorbing influences as wide as Factory Records, early REM, and even some touches of the 4AD catalogue, it's as if the trio from the midwest distilled down what they liked about all the cutting edge groups that they listened to at the time and arrived at something that still sounds pretty fresh nearly 20 years later.

The album bursts out of the gate with "Sabres," and Harry Dingman again makes his presence on guitar known right away with soaring melodies that mix nicely with the light delivery of Jeffrey Runnings on vocals (and backed by a solid rhythm section). In fact, one can almost hear a bit of an English lilt on the vocals of Runnings, as if he were looking to separate himself from the heartland even more than the music already does. As if to emphasize things even more, the following track "Stranded In Greenland" contains even more vague vocals that may or may not be a metaphor for the flyover state.

If one were to remove the vocals of Runnings from "The Effect," the ultra-gauzy guitars and an almost electronic-sounding rhythm section running in 6/8 time could easily provide the backdrop to an early Cocteau Twins track while the title track of "December" echoes the dark early period work of The Cure instrumentally. For me, the first two albums from For Against were easily their best. Although they had some excellent songs in their latter period, they sound much more lively and willing to try different things (partially due to the excellent guitar work of Dingman, who later went on to play with The Millions). Considering the group is back together and playing again in their original lineup (albeit with a different drummer), they could very well make a resurgence on the heels of these excavations.

(from almost cool music reviews)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic, March 21, 2008

By	Travis Emmitt "Tripecac" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an awesome album. If you like 80s post-punk/pre-shoegaze (e.g., Chameleons, Sound, Springhouse), you'll definitely like this! It's powerful, pretty, and catchy. I still have "Stranded in Greenland" stuck in my head from the first time I heard it over a decade ago! :)

Very few American bands have enamored me as much as For Against have, and this album is IMO their tightest, a great starting point. It's the one I heard first, and made me immediately buy the rest of their albums. I've been a devoted fan of the band ever since!

p.s. Jack Rabid gave December his #1 pick in The Big Takeover #25!