Artist: Farewell To Freeway
Album: Filthy Habits
Genre: Hardcore
Label: Victory

Upon first glance of Farewell to Freeway’s Filthy Habits in my iTunes library, I felt as though I already had ten copies of this record. With artwork better suited for an early 2000’s Hawthorne Heights and the same play-on-words song titles used by every other hardcore band, I’ll admit that my level of interest was not very high. Of course, trivial things like artwork and song titles can be forgiven for an amazing album, but this one doesn’t quite make the cut.

Filthy Habits kicks off with “Liquor? I Don’t Even Know ‘Er” (see what I mean?), a frantic opener that gives us a good sense of what Farewell to Freeway is all about. We have the classic hardcore staples here – chugging guitars, double-bass pedal and mostly screamed vocals with a few moments of clean singing. It’s solid, standard hardcore; a nice listen, but ultimately, nothing earth-shattering.

The record continues on in the same fashion, with energetic breakdowns and aggressive vocals, though FTF never push the creative envelope enough to really stand out from the crowd. Instrumental track “Bones And Tissue” makes for a nice break in the middle of the record, but instead of being a transitional piece, it really just sounds like a track that nobody bothered to record vocals for. Without it, though, Filthy Habits may just sound like one 39-minute song.

Farewell to Freeway follow the same song structure and instrumentation that has proven successful by many before them, but such is the problem with a genre that is so diluted by identical cookie-cutter acts. It takes a truly original band to shine in this scene, but these guys just aren’t there yet. Seeing as this is the band’s third LP, they should be trying to build their sound, not repeat what they’ve already done twice before.

FTF know how to write good hardcore, and this record will likely satisfy (but not impress) fans of Underminded, Therefore I Am and The Devil Wears Prada. Filthy Habits shows solid songwriting, and thankfully, no unnecessary add-ons like autotuned vocals or dance beats. None of the tracks lack energy or good musicianship; it simply seems as though there just isn’t enough material to stretch into an interesting full-length.

If you’re into hardcore, you’ll like this album. Unfortunately, you probably won’t come back for a second listen.

Score: 5/10
Review written by: Rebecca Frank

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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