band from malaysia ferns releases debut full-length after mercilessly teasing fans for months with false dates of release

ferns
on botany
(fruit records, 2007)
http://www.myspace.com/fernfrens

it’s here, it’s finally here! with much thanks to the good folks at fruit records! ferns (warren, abby, meng, dave and boon) released two top-notch eps and then proceeded to tease fans for months with false dates of album release that never came to be. and now the group finally releases a peculiarly packaged cd with die-cut picket fences, illustrations of farming tools, vegetable batch, trees and rainbow all in green, plus a patch of astroturf glued to its front. i'm very tempted to walk on it barefoot...

so cute, but is it any good? well, this is my best album of 2006. perhaps even 2007, as it’s already out for sale but the release date printed on the album says 2007.

the album gathers four songs from their earlier self-released cd-rs, add a couple of once-available-on-myspace songs and throws in a bunch of four new ones. and just as fans are expecting, none are fillers.

the older songs are always great to listen to, particularly dear derelict which remains a firm favourite. the song in two parts (one part gentle sway, one part almost exuberant swing) still send chills down my spine when the piano and drums take over, and the singing goes higher and warren's voice is a little raspy, sounding like it will crack and break at any moment under the weight of emtions.

my new favourite will be wistful thinking, the most upbeat song that had me clapping and tapping along in no time. a couple of the new songs, citadel and when we die, moves into similar atmospheric rock pop terrain which fellow malaysian pals furniture do so well and which ferns are pretty good at too, as first heard on older songs like the western front. not surprising cos some band members from both bands were previously from the defunct this body broken. lots of chiming guitars and multi-tracked vocals, all floating on rolling drums that goes loud and soft. the soft-loud dynamics might have become a somewhat post-rock cliché but when it's done so well, i'm not complaining.

their music is decidedly poppish and sometimes, almost twee. yet, its nature is not quite so when you listen to the words which are sad and cynical at times. for example, the line "en route to suffering" is heard twice on both disaster strikes again and when we die.

somehow, listening to ferns feels like falling in love.