#15 - Five Iron Frenzy - I Am Jack's Smirking Revenge
How often is it that a band from your childhood, who has been broken up for (officially) 10 years, comes back out of nowhere with a tour and brand new album? Not too often, I'd guess. And it's even more rare for the band to be just as good (if not better) as they were before they disbanded. Enter Five Iron Frenzy, a massively popular ska band in the late 90s/early 2000s who called it quits after one final tour in 2003. The members performed in various side projects (most notably Brave Saint Saturn) but in 2011 they suddenly announced that they were back and released the song "It Was A Dark Stormy Night" to tide the fanbase over until the release of the album, which finally dropped November of last year. I was fortunate enough to see them on their reunion tour in 2013 and also this spring on their tour promoting the album "Engine of a Million Plots". The album is outstanding, and in fact far better than I could have imagined it would be. Along with "Dark Stormy Night", standout releases include "Into Your Veins", "We Own The Skies", and the purely FIF track "Battle Dancing Unicorns With Glitter".
But it was the pummeling horns and drums of "I Am Jack's Smirking Revenge" that immediately caught my ears upon first listen. The title alludes to a quote from "Fight Club", uttered by Ed Norton right before punching himself in the face. The song itself actually hints towards scriptural passages in where Christ is asking for his followers trust, and also telling them not to be driven by material possessions. Musically, the song is driven by the 3 headed horn section of Jeff, Brad and Dennis, just as any great Five Iron song should be. It's a phenomenal song with an incredibly powerful and humbling message, and it goes to show that FIF are the same band that all have come to know and love over the years. I don't know what their future plans are, but if they keep putting out great music, then the fanbase will surely continue to support and follow.
Title: I Am Jack's Smirking Revenge
Artist: Five Iron Frenzy
Album: Engine Of A Million Plots
Previous 15s
2013: The Features - This Disorder
2012: A Plea for Purging - Heart of a Child
2011: Texas in July - Magnolia
2010: Day of Fire - Lately
2009: Silversun Pickups - It's Nice To Know You Work Alone
I was only ever a lukewarm Five Iron fan back in the day, but this whole album was excellent. Not a weak track to be had (this track was definitely one of the highlights).
ReplyDeleteIt makes me yearn for a possible ska revoluton, which I see as impossible as electronics are the future and horns are essentially dinosaurs.
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