FAIR TO MIDLAND "Arrows & Anchors"

FAIR TO MIDLAND began in 1998 by friends Andrew Darroh Sudderth and Cliff Campbell. The band grew and after their debut album, Serj Tankian signed Fair to Midland to his label Serjical Strike. The Drawn and Quartered EP was soon released on the label, featuring demo tracks from inter.funda.stifle, live recordings, and a mini-documentary titled "The Drawn and Quartered Kinescope", which included concert footage and interviews with the band.

Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True, Fair to Midland's major label debut, was released in June 2007. For it, the band chose to re-record many of the songs from inter.funda.stifle. Fables From a Mayfly garnered much critical attention and acclaim, and also helped widen their fanbase.

Now the boys have roared back in '11 releasing Arrows & Anchors and I'll admit being late to the game. I collected a few songs from the Fables album but never listened to the whole thing. Then, I was looking forward to checking out their new album and was given the song "Amarillo Sleeps On My Pillow" as a free download from the band's website. I was hooked and unable to wait for the new album I got their entire catalog!

The band weaves tales and lore throughout their lyrics along with complicated music and tempo changes that would make Tool proud. They are a very intelligent band and you have to read the lyrics to understand what is going on. Such a complicated band does come with homework but so far, this is the best album of the year!

Fair To Midland "Arrows & Anchors" is available and also check out the music video for the 1st single, "Musical Chairs" above.