For Against
December
Label:  Independent Project Records  
Date:  1989
Length:  0:00
Format:  CA
Genre:  Rock; Indie
  Category:  rock
    Track Listing:
      1.  
      Sabres    
      2.  
      Stranded In Greenland    
      3.  
      Svengali    
      4.  
      They Said    
      5.  
      The Effect    
      6.  
      December    
      7.  
      The Last Laugh    
      8.  
      Paperwhites    
      9.  
      Clandestine High Holy    
    Additional info: | top

      FOR AGAINST has released a series of brooding pop records layered with surging wall of sound guitars and melodic basslines since their inception in 1984 in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1988 FOR AGAINST recorded the distinguished DECEMBER album for INDEPENDENT PROJECT RECORDS. DECEMBER is a fan favorite and is unparalleled in the annals of post-punk for its unique blend of aggressive, atmospheric, and melodic songwriting. The album is also now largely considered to be a forerunner of the dream pop scene popularized in England just a few years later (PALE SAINTS, KITCHENS OF DISTINCTION). The WORDS ON MUSIC re-release of DECEMBER is issued in a six-panel digipak design by two-time Grammy nominee BRUCE LICHER and includes two rare, recently recovered FOR AGAINST videos shot in 1987, never before commercially available. A ferocious rhythm section launches December with "Sabres" as drummer Greg Hill finds room for fills in spaces upon which most drummers would not even dare! to encroach. Singer Jeffrey Runnings continues to intrigue by conveying his dark (and at times obscure) lyrics in a deceptively boyish delivery. Runnings' punctuated bass lines propel "Stranded in Greenland," while guitarist Harry Dingman's melodies weave ever more pronounced circles around the rhythms within. "Svengali" recalls the best of Chronic Town-era R.E.M. with Hill’s quick tom-tom fills and Dingman’s nimble, repetitive picking intervals in the spotlight. On “They Said,” Runnings' vocals and Dingman's melodies gracefully dip in and out of the chorus and a coda replete with orchestral-sounding 12-string sweeps escorts the song to its melancholic end. Brooding elements from FOR AGAINST's debut album Echelons remain, most evident in the prominent basslines of the 6/8-metered "The Effect." Echoed guitar work and repetitive JOY DIVISION-esque basslines create a dark structure onto which Runnings' chilling vocals are on prominent display. A crushing two-note guitar melody! lingers during the sparse passages of the album’s measured title track. Improbable harmonics add sparkling touches to "The Last Laugh" and “Paperwhites.” The album closes with "Clandestine High Holy” on which Dingman's guitar teeters on the edge of feedback while Runnings pounds out fierce basslines that would make GANG OF FOUR blush. Ending the album in spectacular fashion, Dingman propels the band through a minute-plus coda with cascading chord progressions that simply bring chills to the spine.