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After building a buzz in the UK, the skinny tie wearing
quartet from York release their first record for Ark
21 Records, "Moustache", and expectations
are high for Farrah’s unique brand of power pop.
Formed in 1998 by Jez Ashurst (Vocals and Guitar), Mike
Walker (Bass and Vocals), Andy Campbell (Guitar, Keyboards,
and Vocals) and Tom Marsh (Drums and Percussion) Farrah
quickly became a favorite in the local club scene in
England with a combination of exquisite chord progression,
tasty three part harmonies and cleverly warped lyrics.
According to Jez Ashurst, the band was formed after
he broke up with his childhood sweetheart. “I couldn’t
afford counseling so I wrote some songs about love,
loss and beer and sent them to Mike who was unhappily
in the army. He dug out his bass, we were in a band
together when we were 15, and went AWOL. We picked up
Andy at a ‘Synthesizer Addicts Anonymous’ meeting and
met Mike through mutual acquaintances.”
“The name Farrah was a combination of things. In the
U.K ‘Farrah’s’ are terrible 70’s trousers worn by old
men with a penchant for creases. Charlie’s Angels did
come to me in a dream and tell me to call the band ‘Farrah’.
We were finally persuaded when we found out that Britain’s
best fudge is called ‘Farrah’s’ fudge. We like fudge.”
Ashurst explains with a tongue and cheek smirk. The
band’s name almost cost them as Farrah’s 1st single
was surprisingly successful; there was a problem and
a lawsuit was filed. “The cover of the first single
featured a photograph of a piece of chocolate manufactured
by a company, from our home town of York, called ‘Terry’s.
They objected to the use of their product in a record
that they thought promoted drug abuse! The record, in
fact, does nothing of the sort. The papers got involved
and blew it up out of all proportion. Terry’s threatened
legal action and we thought it was all good fun”, said
Jez without worry.
While the early days were anything but glamorous, the
four lads from York pressed on, playing where ever and
whenever they could. Jez briefly described the lean
years saying, “When we first started we played a lot
of toilets to one man and his dog. Then sometimes the
dog would come on his own. It was a bit disheartening
at first but I think the whole experience was character
building. If you can create a vibe with only 10 people
there then you’ve got something. I remember with fondness
all the late night drives with us all arguing about
who made the most mistakes and who got dropped off at
home first. The good thing is that people still come
up after gigs and say ‘remember me, I was one of the
6 people at Doncaster Greyhound 3 years ago’, and it
ends up that they’ve bought the album and convinced
their friends to do the same. I remember most of the
gigs as a triumph against adversity. I also remember
the unreal excitement when we could afford our first
roadie! No more out of tune guitars and carrying drum
kits down 3 flights of stairs.”
Even though the quartet has yet to break into mainstream
radio, their first single ‘Terry’ received a fair share
of airplay on indie stations throughout the UK. “Our
first single ‘Terry’ was recorded for our own enjoyment.
We sent a demo of stuff around all the record companies
and we got the standard rejection letters. A guy called
Pete Morgan who ran a tiny independent called Noisebox
said he’d put the single out. He wanted to put it out
on Vinyl as well which got us pretty excited. We went
to Ron Rogers’ (who ended up producing the album) studio
in Wales and recorded ‘Terry’ and the B side ‘Talk About
Nothing’ in Three days”, says Jez. After selling out
the single within a week’s time, Farrah entered a Wales
studio to record the debut, Moustache. Warner Chappel
was so impressed by an advanced copy, the publishing
giant immediately signed the band for worldwide publishing.
Music mogul Miles Copeland was equally impressed with
Farrah’s unique brand of power pop and signed them to
his label ARK 21 in 2000. “Our manager knew Miles Copeland.
I had always had a great deal of respect for the man
who broke ‘The Police’ and ‘Squeeze’. We had already
recorded the album ourselves, and they wanted to license
it. We liked the fact that they let us have a lot of
control and they also let us use their photocopier whenever
we wanted!”
Farrah’s debut, Moustache, has been receiving rave reviews
from both sides of the Atlantic and for good reason;
the band has the ability to craft non-threatening pop
songs while retaining an edgy quality. While it would
be easy to lump Farrah into the same category as the
“geek chic” power punk band, Weezer, the band takes
the genre a bit further. “I always liked Weezer. We’ve
never really consciously tried to sound like anybody
else. We have a hard enough time sounding like ourselves.
We all bring different influences to the band,” was
Jez’s response to the comparison. With a 1960’s British
AM radio pop approach, combined with Beach Boys and
Beatle-esque harmonies, inventive guitar riffs and fun
and playful lyrics, Farrah brings together a host of
musical styles. Other influences include: ABBA, Queen,
Supergrass and Ash. Jez describes the band’s sound as
“Songs+love+loss+big guitars+weird synth+swooping harmonies+
Big Choruses+all over too soon = Farrah”.
With aggressive support from Ark 21, Moustache was released
in the US on June 6th and is already in heavy rotation
on college radio. The four singles, which the band’s
management are pushing, are ‘Terry’, ‘ I Wanna Be Your
Boyfriend’ (originally done by The Rubinos) ‘Living
For The Weekend’ and ‘Tired Of Apologising’ (which has
a Sgt. Pepper vibe complete with synthesized horn riffs).
While each one of these singles stress a guitar driven
upbeat pop inflected tone, which is for the most part
carried over throughout the rest of the album, Farrah
pulls a few tricks out of their creative hat. Even though
‘Only Happy When She’s Sad’ only lasts 58 seconds, it
showcases Farrah’s beautifully arranged harmonizing
abilities. ‘Don’t Let Them Get You Down’ is a poignant
and slow moving love song. The group dabbles in New
Wave on the track ‘Talk About Nothing’ with a groovy
80’s beat and Cars-inspired synthesizers. The final
track, ‘Goodnight God Bless’, is perceptibly Beatle
influenced, as it could be liken to the classic ‘Golden
Slumbers’ minus the over-the-top orchestral production.
Farrah has hit a nerve with Brit-pop fans in the UK
with their splendid debut, and US success is inevitable
for this York quartet. With a blend of tasty originality,
well constructed song writing in addition to jovial,
catchy and familiar beats, Moustache is a completely
flawless first outing. So instead of rushing out to
buy the new Oasis, treat yourself to the new kids on
the block. You will not be disappointed.
Tony Engelhart for Crud Magazine 2002©
Relevant sites:
http://www.ark21.com/
http://www.farrah.co.uk/
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06/02 Fleadh Festival - Finsbury Park
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07/02 The Beatings - Live - Metro Club London
07/02 The Bellrays + The D4 - Virgin Megastore, Oxford Street London
January 2001
July - August 2001
September - October 2001
November - December 2001
January - March 2002
April - July 2002
August - December 2002 | |
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