face to face: Don't Turn Away

face to face: Don't Turn Away

1992

Fat Wreck Chords

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. You've Done Nothing  2. I'm Not Afraid  3. Disconnected  4. No Authority  5. I Want  6. You've Got a Problem  7. Everything Is Everything  8.I'm Trying  9. Pastel  10. Nothing New  11. Walk Away  12. Do You Care?  13. 1,000 X


Damn, I love this record. I remember back in the early-mid 90's there was a lot of suspicion surrounding this band. There were rumors they were an ex-hair metal band, they would get jeered at festivals by Capital P Punk Purists, etc. They seemed a little too good to be true. They came out of nowhere with a debut that while sporting a raw recording, was so well-tooled, powerful and fully developed that you could imagine it playing on FM radio. Eventually as time wore on and it was apparent these guys weren't a put-on, punks everywhere accepted the group as one of the best the 90's had to offer.

If you haven't heard them before, they sound like Social Distortion with 90's SoCal double-time skatepunk laid over it. They had a bassist named Matt Riddle who had the coolest, driest, rattling bass sound ever laid down. The singer sounds almost exactly like Mike Ness, minus the rockabilly influence. And they were capable of writing some of the catchiest, most immediate hooks imaginable. Every song on "Don't Turn Away" is excellent and about 9 or 10 of them are flat-ass perfect 90's punk classics.

Is "You've Done Nothing" the best 90's punk album opener? I think a case could be made.. There are a generation of folks out there to whom the seemingly benign countdown, "ONE! TWO! ONE TWO THREE FOUR!" will instantly dilate their pupils and have them frothing at the mouth and forming a circle pit. That's how potent the first five seconds of this record are.

This is also the first appearance (that I know of) of the immortal "Disconnected" which was a pop-punker so unstoppable that they went on to include it on three consecutive albums. And I was happy to hear it every time. One of the all-time, from out of nowhere, great pop-punk choruses.

"I Want," "Pastel," "I'm Trying." Too many good songs to nameheck them all. If this isn't their best album, it's damn close. The argument could be made that it's all a bit samey and there is no variance in the production, but most punks would view that as a plus. Just a bunch of plainly recorded, awesomely energetic, catchy stuff. If you're into 90's punk at all, this is a must have.

 Let's listen to some face to face. Here's "Pastel"...Enjoy...