Settle the Score

Fight Fair

Thanks to Meet Me @ the Altar, I've been on a bit of an easycore kick; revisiting some of my favourite bands of the genre. One such band is San Diego's Fight Fair, a group of party rock bros whose life's motto is quite possibly 'G.T.L.' They may also have an affinity for the movie Grease. I won't lie, on paper it is pretty corny, but when you hear it... well it is still pretty corny. Nevertheless, Fight Fair is still a lot of fun, insanely catchy, and the songwriting is actually not as predictable as other bands in the genre. Take the twenty-seven second For the Win which impressively manages to string three different ideas, all at different tempos into this short, cohesive burst of machismo. It begins with a speedy pop-punk section with fast chord changes, a blistering, double-time punk beat, and some gang vocals. After a brief cool down, the band revs things back up again with a great breakdown with speedy, relentless kicks.

The litmus test would be Pop Rocks, a track that even I didn't really care for initially. The lyrics are kinda tacky; vying for the affections of a female in a fairly desperate manner. There are equally tacky instrumental elements like the record scratches, and the synth solo in the breakdown that emulates the high-pitched guitar squeals. I didn't like this song for the longest time, but at some point, my perception changed. As I got into more direct and (intentionally) superficial hyperpop, I started to see this song for what it really is; a mindlessly fun pop tune. I've grown to like it, however, I would not blame anyone for hating this song. A song that I thoroughly enjoyed right from the very beginning though, despite its Graduation (Friends Forever) levels of sentimentality, was Beachfront Avenue. It is pretty much pop-punk perfection with its grand, melodic choruses, stellar drum performances, and soaring vocals.

The only blemish on this mini-album is the closing track, Your True Colors. Its a melodramatic song about a friend's betrayal (I'm guessing) that is closer to melodic hardcore than the rest of the material here. After such a consistent series of fun pop-punk bangers, this track really is quite the buzzkill. Predictable song structure, dime-a-dozen lyrics, and some pretty awful hardcore vocals towards the end. Other than that though, this set of songs is nothing but sunny, cheerful, party tunes that never fails to brighten my mood and put some pep into my step.