Hailing from Albany, Oregon the trio that makes up Falling Up–Josh Shroy (drums), Jeremy Miller (bass, keys) and Jess Ribordy (vocals, guitar and keys)–is anything but mundane and ordinary.
There is no real musical “genre” you could classify these three guys in. Part rock, part ballad, part science fiction and part everything else, their classification of themselves on MySpace as “experimental” is very fitting.
With their sixth album Fangs!, released on March 24th, the spiritual band further pushes the boundaries of time and sound with their “experimental” music. From the get-go, Fangs! sounds like something few listeners have probably ever heard before. Ribordy’s voice is at the very least, haunting, with just the right amount of near-creepy thrown in. The sound becomes almost spaceage-esque when Ribordy’s voice combines with the electronic effects the band has laid over tracks like “Lotus And The Languorous.”
Many of the songs are chock full of sheer ominousness, making them feel like the supporting soundtrack to an intense battle scene from Star Trek or a J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy novel. Other tracks, like “Goddess of the Dayspring, Am I,” are more upbeat and even ethereal in their musical style.
On the title of the album, Ribordy says, “Fangs sums up a very reactive type of scenario. We often think of Fangs relating to snakes or poison, which represent the idea of biting and damage. It’s a very reaction-based record where something is always happening. Whether it be good or bad, it’s always significant.”
And significant this album is. From its out-of-this-world-infused songs, all the way down to the song titles; most of which are quite complex and sound like they were taken directly from a chapter in a sci-fi novel, with names like “Streams of Woe at Acheron” and “The King’s Garden.”
If Falling Up’s goal is to push musical boundaries, they have definitely done so with Fangs!.
