Epitaph / Ada
2004
Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has A Body Count
About This Album
Since the early 2000s, what's now known as post-hardcore has been consistently codified into something eminently marketable. Screaming bloody murder over churning angular guitars has suddenly salable qualities, as long as the rage is offset by whimpering pianos and heart-flailing harmonies. This systemization isn't necessarily bad, as the groups it affects often make very arresting music. But that doesn't mean the formula itself isn't questionable. In 2004 From First to Last unleashes its first full-length via Epitaph, after debuting with an EP for the tiny New York imprint Four Leaf. And it has the right idea, using dense lyricism and inventively propulsive drumming to separate Dear Diary, My Teen Angst Has a Bodycount from the teeming post-hardcore pack. But like so many of its peers, FFTL tempers its fury with oddly soft-focus introspection. Derek Bloom's incredible drumming drives de facto opener "The One Armed Boxer vs. the Flying Guillotine" through its wildly shifting time signatures, and the clipped guitars flail appropriately. "Note to Self," too, incorporates metal pacing and a flurry of double bass kicks. But the dark energy in these introductory tracks dissipates in the carnival synthesizers and music box effects of "I Liked You Better.
Track List (try tracks 4,6,9 and 12)

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