Fatal Film

New London indie rock stalwarts Fatal Film are releasing their new self titled CD at 33 Golden Street on Friday. Released by local record label The Telegraph Recording Company and having been ¾ recorded by Jason Banta (Recur Occurrence, Burnouts from Outerspace) this record is a celebration of all things local.

While most of their back catalog was rife with angst and angular sounds this album features a kinder gentler side of Fatal Film. The ryhthm section still pounds away with a steady slab of low end. Bassist Dave Freeburg still has a good mix of rubbery bounce and fat clipping distortion to his tone. Drummer Mike Winslow is as in the pocket as a metronome and his tom work adds great texture to the high end assualt of the guitars. It's really Matt Potter's vocals that are the first thing to give away this poppier direction.

The melody is paramount in his voice, the strain of anger and push of disgust is replaced with a calm and collected approach. The lyrical content hasn't changed. All the bad decisions, cursing, talking down to the world and worry are all still right there staring you in the face. Where it's changed is that Potter used to sound like he was scolding you and hating himself but now the songs sound more like cautionary tales. Has he grown up, mellowed out, and taken that proverbial chill pill? I wouldn't venture a guess. All I'm saying is that it's a different approach. There are moments when the emotion bubbles over and you can hear Matt's eyes flash red (like at the end of "Princess Chords") but for the most part the demons are all kept caged up.


Some of the guitar tones are also slightly unfamiliar to the Fatal Film camp as well. The songs "Something in the Water" and "Remember When You Were Fun" have a super reverberated; "we recorded this in a cave", sort of guitar sound that soars over the top of them. While there is a wide reaching melodic function to the sound of those guitars, this is a sound that smoothes the edges of what could be knife edge guitars lines on an older Fatal Film song. There is also an underpinning of glitchy fuzz which could be over the top if used as a centerpiece but as a background sound perks up your ears and makes you want to find the origin of the sound. "Coolest Friend" steals a page from My Bloody Valentine's play book with a warbling fuzz tone that opens the song and continues throughout, although pushed slightly to the back. These changes in texture are some of the most endearing pieces of the album.

With all this change you would think songs like "New / Fast" or "Pick Up the Goddamn Phone" (the albums biggest bruisers) would be my favorite. Nope, I think the point where they nailed their poppy noisy marriage is "Our Daily Meds". It could be the Pixies-esque guitar line in between Potters vocals in the verse or the background vocals in the choruses or maybe even the way the whole song seems to snap back into place after loosening up during the chorus. Who knows? It'll be the hit single though, you watch.
While they are embracing a new direction they are still rooted in an alternative rock sound. The Fall and Polvo are still some of the big influences here. Just don't expect them to push so hard anymore; they're doing what they feel like doing and still not making any apologies. So prepare yourself for some new perspective and a dose of Fatal Film that you may not have seen coming. - wailingcity.com

Fatal Film is the best band in the state. Maybe even in New England. They are local indie rock icons. With a new record in hand Matt Potter and the rest of his cast of characters are here to show you why.

This record is a more mature Fatal Film than the past releases but they still keep that young angst energy that made the band so big. However don’t let the maturity fool you starting off with “Curl Up and Die” in which Matt proclaims “I’m never gonna be the same”. That proclamation sends you into a spiral of jangly guitars, and a tight rhythm section that Robert Pollard would be pleased with.

“Pick Up The Phone” originally appeared on the “Sisterwife EP” in 2008 and is revisited on this record. A song about the want and the need to talk to someone when one is in need for something. The sound is loud, it has a great beat, its raucous enough that indie rock kids will drool, britrock people will bow down to it and even some American punks will acknowledge its greatness.

Overall this record is as close to perfection as one can possibly get. Its moods change and those moods will drag you over the river and through the woods. You will wake up from a night of partying with these songs in your head, a heavy hangover, and ready to party more. Fatal Film have released one of the most highly anticipated records of the year. - CT Indie

"… FF's self-titled second LP is a stormer, steered by Matt Potter's expressive, aggressive singing. He's still an aural doppelgänger for The Sleepers' Ricky Williams and F-Word/Negative Trend's Rik L Rik, but for recognizable reference, consider five parts David Bowie (where those dead guys got it), and one part Blur's Damon Albarn. Given superior vocals/phrasing, the band hurtles through a antagonistic post-punk panoply that pins on dissonant bass, clipped-then-erupting guitars, persistent drums, and strong dynamics with an ensemble tightness that builds pressure then releases - such as the diatribe/insecurity dichotomy of "Pick Up the Phone" (the Heartbreakers' "Get Off the Phone"'s opposite) and "Big Dicks." Viva the MBV whammy bar discord on "Coolest Friend," too. FF bring/do it all!" Big Takeover, #73, p. 99 (#30 of top 40) - Big Takeover

"Somehow I missed this New London, CT foursome's first Sisterwife EP, but one unsuspecting listen to this new debut LP made an instant convert out of me. Frothing up a speakers-filling post-punk roar in a cleanly harsh din, they sound like late F-Word/Negative Trend's Rik L Rik or Ricky Williams fronting the latter's old S.F. punk-psych band The Sleepers. Or maybe Teardrop Explodes, or that band's singer Julian Cope leading a louder, faster Josef K, with occasional hints of Talking Heads/Gang of Four's appropriation of Chic's "NLPD Blues". This is confident, boisterous, wild music with the gears of garage and '80s gnashing indie rock. It's shot full of adrenalin energy, dirty, clashing riffing, feral but cool vocals by the great Matt Potter EQed on stun, and a rocks-off buzzing smarts that makes you stop doing whatever your attention-span-deficient multitasking self was and pay excited attention. This cooks, slams, smacks, and kicks with all the danger, edge, and abandon you rarely see in such a tight band making terrific use of complimenting guitar parts-often lead picking around eachother in a mesmeric post-Television mode. From "First Step" to "Hustlers Are We", you won't soon forget this (shockingly) accurately titled "thrill'r" ride, and we aren't talking about Michael Jackson, either." -Jack Rabid, Big Takeover [album made #20 in top #40] - Big Takeover

Fatal Film, Sisterwife (Cosmodemonic Telegraph, hozomeen.org). This New London quartet unleashes a modest, unostentatious four-song EP of sturdy guitar-driven post-punk indie rock. Their reluctance to go for flashy maneuvers or to keep a straight face throughout (check the radar-gun delay effected vocals on "Put on Your Goddamned Jetpack") may make listeners miss what's happening under the surface of these songs, which would be a shame. These are tightly crafted tunes, concise and played with a fine ear for dynamics and arrangement. Other bands have been down this road, but Fatal Film understands substance over style and has fun in the process. Their ominous minor-key chord progressions are certainly welcome.

by Brian LaRue - New Haven Advocate