With Farnsworth being the name of more than one place, you can easily stumble upon various town bands when searching for this lot. To confuse matters further, there's another indie/rock band from Massachusetts who go by the same name. So just to be clear, this particular Farnsworth are from Charleston, West Virginia, they're a trio who've been making alt-rock tunes for around four years now, and they've just put out this self-titled EP. As they say themselves, they combine melodies from the '60s, classic rock from the '70s, and merge it into a form of scuzzy alt-rock that wouldn't have been out of place in the post-grunge scene of the '90s. So a little convention and a little originality then, but four fine new songs are the latest result of their hybridization.
The opening track was probably a clear choice. 'On The Ground Again' is like Dinosaur Jr. joining forces with Teenage Fanclub and contains those classic melodies which are cocooned in a good layer of fuzz. Plus, the singalong "oooh ooohs" and handclaps make for a catchy introduction. 'Priorities' is closer to conventional rock, but it's too grubby to be lumped in with boring traditionalists and has a pinch of soul thrown in for good measure. 'For You' takes the bluesy blueprint of bands like Cream and adds some Neil Young-esque guitar; it's weighty without ever really approaching metal, and still sits firmly in the alt-rock category. Finally, '20 Days' cranks up the pace again and sees them ending on a high with a stomping blues-rock track which is again influenced by Neil Young, but if his soft voice was much more gravelly. A solid EP that will find favour with a wide variety of guitar music fans.
Farnsworth's website
Stream the EP in full
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