Flight of the Foreigners

If by some odd chance you've been reading my rambling diatribes for some time now, you should hopefully be aware of my great appreciation for the band Foreign Born. Last November when I featured them on my now-defunct "Sign This Band" feature (see here), I remarked on how they had a full-length album titled "On the Wing Now," which was supposed to be released sometime in 2007 on an unknown record label. Big thanks goes out to Dim Mak for finally setting the band up with distribution. You can get your hands on the album in stores starting today.

I'm really happy that Foreign Born finally got around to releasing this, because it's a damn good album. Unlike some bands who built up good will and a fan base through EPs but then got some backlash upon the release of an actual LP (see: Voxtrot), Foreign Born have avoided that curse.This album of material is as good, if not stronger than the promise shown on their two previous EPs. I actually think they work better as an album band instead of an EP band anyways. Their music feels like it was built for larger and greater things and places, and the spaciousness that a full-length provides the band with some much-deserved breathing room.

With the increased running time and track listing of an actual LP, Foreign Born has also been able to show their range and expand their sound beyond the 80s-ish tinges of Echo and the Bunnymen or The Smiths. While their ability to reproduce those sorts of sounds was impressive in the first place, you now get flashes of greatness the likes of R.E.M. or U2 scattered about the album. Yeah, it's more on the list of "best of the 80s bands," but the thing that Foreign Born does best is making those sounds feel contemporary again. Maybe it's the production techniques, maybe it's the way they sonically compose their songs, maybe it's just a general regression in music today or maybe it's just the psychology of knowing this music was recordsd recently. Whatever it is, listening to "On the Wing Now" feels like a 2007 experience, and a really enjoyable one at that.

I don't really have anything bad to say about the album, mostly because there's very little to not like here. Okay, there are a couple small "issues" that I have, and they're really minor. First of all, album opener "Union Hall" sounds like an almost blatant imitation of Arcade Fire's "Wake Up," only less good. The plus side is that I don't think any song could come closer to capturing the magic of "Wake Up"- it's like trying to become President and instead winding up Vice President; you may not quite have gotten to the top, but second best isn't a bad place to be. "Union Hall" is followed by the song "Into Your Dream," a song that feels kind of like a Tapes n' Tapes b-side. The track isn't all that bad, but it still feels like the weakest on the album.

My last "criticism" applies more to the record in general. Listening through "On the Wing Now" many, many times, the one thing I consistently noticed how the songs kept building towards new heights but never quite got there. Sort of like strapping on a whole bunch of ammunition and explosives, but then never using them in battle. Foreign Born have all the tools they need to be musical giants alongside some of the best bands in the world, but they just haven't found their full potential yet. They're nearly there with just a piece of the summit left to scale on that gigantic mountain. Once they find a way to turn their atomic bomb-sized music into an actual explosion, nothing should be able to stop them from becoming massively successful. I'm not telling them to sell out and go mainstream- the music they're making right now is moving in the exact right direction. All it needs is a little more refining, with some huge choruses that will render audiences both blind and deaf from the incredible sound and light show accompanying it.

Keep your eyes peeled, my friends- Foreign Born is on the serious up-and-up. If "On the Wing Now" doesn't get them some major headway for the future, I'd be very surprised. Major labels should be knocking on their doors trying to sign them. My advice to you: get on board now. This is a record worth buying and exploring many times over, and the sort of thing you might want to have around in 5 years or so to say "I knew them when." A little love now means a lot of love later.

Foreign Born- Letter of Inclusion
Foreign Born- In the Shape

Buy "On the Wing Now" from Amazon

Bonus non-album cut:
Foreign Born- We Had Pleasure

Labels: foreign born