Fono Album Review

Fono
Too Broken To Break LP

Self-Released

Saturday 22nd of September 2007

Record Review

By Haydon S

First, the good news: as I write this, you can go to www.fono.net, sign up, and download this album for free. Under normal circumstances that would be a pretty sweet deal, but when the album is as good as this, it's nothing short of miraculous.

Before you read any further, before you go and make a cup of tea, before you go to the toilet like you've been thinking you should for the last couple of hours, I urge you to head on over to the website and download this record now. Got that? Good. Well done. Your life can now continue as normal. Now you can go to the loo. When you come back I'll tell you how great this record is.

So, are you sitting comfortably? Excellent. I shall begin. Fono have long been one of the most underrated and unlucky bands on the alternative rock scene. Their debut, Goesaroundcomesaround, came out so long ago I don't think my voice had broken at the time. It featured a couple of classic songs, in 'Collide' and 'Alcatraz', which led to tours with Goo Goo Dolls and Third Eye Blind, as well as performances sharing the stage with Robert Plant, Bon Jovi, Sneaker Pimps, Tonic, Guano Apes and many more.

In this period, the band moved from the UK to the US, solidified a new lineup, and set to work on a new EP, It's the Way That You Use It. Then, calamity struck, when their studio burned down, losing the band all their equipment, and the masters for the EP. Having gone through this, the band could have given up, but instead kept going, re-recording the EP and having Alan Sanderson (Rolling Stones) mix it. Now, with Too Broken to Break (their first full-length this century), Fono are ready to take the alternative rock world by storm.

Beginning with 'Dangerous', Fono gives an eleven song master class in radio-ready alternative rock. Guitars chug and swirl, the rhythm section of Cindy Cate and Andy Ridley is both inventive and energised, providing the songs with a life and vitality most bands can't hope to achieve, while Del Currie's sometimes soaring, sometimes abrasive vocals, are always fearfully melodic.

Every song here is a potential smash hit single in the right hands. 'Still Love?', 'Sunlight Silence' and 'Silhouette' stand out on first listen, each with rock solid grooves and the kind of choruses most bands would kill for, but other songs, such as 'Anything At All' and the title track, provide rewards for repeated listening.

All that being said, this isn't an album which deserves to be reviewed on the basis of briefly picking out a few key tunes. The album as a whole has a flow, a togetherness, which is great to hear from a band who are technically indie. Of course, not every band would be able to enlist the help of Chris Sheldon (Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Feeder etc) to bring their recordings to life on the mixing console, as Fono have, but if nothing else, this album shows the potential of hard work, grit and determination, if they are rightly applied, in the music industry.

So, my own assessment of this album? If you like melodic alternative-rock with a bit of an edge, this will be your album of the year. And if you don't, well, it's free isn't it, so why don't you give it a chance. You can thank me later.

9 out of 10
http://www.the-mag.me.uk/Music/Articles/Item/Fono-Too-Broken-To-Break-LP/