Can't Die, Joe

Can't Die

Chris Farren

September 2, 2016

I can’t find much about Chris Farren online, except news about his or his band’s releases. I came to know about Farren through Stereogum’s Best New Artists of 2015 list, when his band Antarctigo Vespucci was mentioned as being a collaboration between him and the dude from Bomb the Music Industry!, which was a very appealing thing in my mind. True enough, the two bands had very similar aesthetics, and Chris Farren’s solo work is no different.

The appeal of acts like Chris Farren, apparent deeply in his new album Can’t Die, is that his music is upbeat and the shit he’s singing about is depressing. It’s a dichotomy that’s easy to appreciate, because it allows you to relate to the shitty feelings he’s singing about, but the tunes aren’t so depressing that you are saddened just by listening to them. You can tap along and sigh deeply at the same time.

“Still Beating” aches longingly for a time when the singer wasn’t so lonely, playing “single-player video games.” But the music is sprightly, with beach guitar and girl-group backing vocals. “Human Being” is about finding solace in a single friend when you feel depressed – bummer! – but damn the singalong chorus is just a blast. It’s a tightrope that Farren walks nimbly for a lot longer than most artists could, even if he does trip up a bit toward the end.

The back half kinda forgets about the “fun music” part of the equation at certain times. It’s nice music, don’t get me wrong. The woodwinds are pretty great on “Flowers,” but they sing a sad tune. The album ends with “Until I Can See the Light,” which concludes with the lyrics “You can only fall so many times, till you don’t get up,” and true enough, the song is a sad funeral march.

It might seem like nitpicking, but I’m here for the party, not for the morning after. It’s kind of my own fault too; I’m hopelessly addicted to fun, fast music, that when the pace slows for anything, it’s a bit of a letdown. Maybe it’s time to admit that every piece of work needs to pace itself sometimes. And the more I listen to Can’t Die, the more I appreciate the breathers in between the breathless.

So, overall, I’d call Can’t Die a success, because you get to contemplate your own mortality, and have a blast doing so. It’s easy to swallow, even if the subject matter is not. I could see myself coming back to this album during dark days to cheer me up, and maybe get a little empathy.

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5

BEST SONG: “Human Being” or “Say U Want Me,” I can’t decide.