Listening to ‘Irregardless’, the debut record from TFF, it’s not hard to guess the band’s geographic location. Throughout the record, there’s a strong sense of that quintessentially-Dunedin rawness and aggressiveness that’s as easy to identify as it is difficult to pin down and is shared by many of the musical exports of our country’s most southern city, regardless of genre.
It’s an approach that TFF use to good effect from the outset, exemplified in the chopped-up guitar squeals and chaotic drums of ‘Fucksurf’, the deranged meanderings and stressed-out saxophone of Ave ‘Sultana/Take Me Out Tonight’ or the frenetic chants that seep through the spaced-out jams of ‘Wolverine Scrumpy’. Upon repeat listens however, it quickly becomes clear that song titles and separations are almost irrelevant, as TFF use ‘Irregardless’ as a opportunity to throw as much noise, ideas and energy together as possible into a 45-minute assault of epic musical proportions. No genre is safe as the band takes a base of noise rock and hardcore punk and lashes it with toppings of indie rock, speed metal, experimental rock and even dashes of psychedelia and prog into a seething, convulsive mix that careens along with break-neck intensity.
Inevitably with such an approach, once the initial impact has worn off, some cracks begin to appear. While it’s a testament to their explorative tendencies that the band seemingly want to incorporate and squeeze in every musical idea that comes into their head, it is also the album’s biggest weakness, with several songs clogged with too much content, giving them a messy and disorganized feel that prevents them from developing to their full potential. Coupled with production that runs the gamut from fittingly lo-fi to sounds-like-it-was-recorded-from-across-the-street, ‘Irregardless’ sometimes comes across as sounding a little too rough and unpolished. In saying that, it’s awesome to watch a band literally thrash out ideas and fearlessly try out new things on a record, and while TFF could probably benefit from actual studio time and a little more self-editing, ‘Irregardless’ is a promising debut from a band with definite potential, and more importantly, guts.
