Face to Face
Don't Turn Away

THE REVIEW

Among the most unusual things to do today, wearing a Black Flag t-shirt while listening to "Seeing Red" on headphones during the wait at the barber ranks as number three, preceded only by a Third Reich-style mustache and contacting SIP technical support, followed closely by Sebastian Rambert posters glued to the bedroom walls and Hüsker Dü cover bands. Rainbow mohawks and Olympic tossing of a Nokia 3310 from the balcony fare better.

Despite that euphoric "one two three four" reminiscent of the Ramones at the album's entrance and the cover artwork wisely recalling Minor Threat, it might mislead someone, the actual broad source of inspiration for Face To Face is Bad Religion.

After gaining recognition in the late Eighties/early Nineties, playing in Southern California venues, between Inland Empire and Orange County, they were noticed by a guy from Dr. Strange Records, who offered them a contract for their first album. The band agreed, recorded the album in the fall of 1991, but the label struggled financially to release it. During this phase of stagnation, the band met Jim Goodwin, a sound engineer who offered to record three new songs for free, including "Disconnected," which the following year also ended up in "Don’t Turn Away."

The album's sound aligns with bands of the era like Millencolin, without ska-punk pauses for reflection. It's pointless to waste unnecessary server bytes with a track-by-track review of all 13 songs composing "Don’t Turn Away," but for those of you raised and matured with Californian melodic hardcore, pieces like “I Want” and “I’m not Afraid” will be redolent of memories and lost youth and will fill your heart.
The genesis of "Disconnected," the band's totem piece, starts from afar: one of the last recorded tracks, it was later edited into an alternative version to test the human capital of Face To Face and, given favorable radio airplays, Victory, the band's new label, obtained a re-recording that was included as a bonus track in the subsequent album "Big Choice." And it seems that even the third label unsuccessfully tried to demand a fourth version. It's the piece that always closes their performances, as was the case in their recent (second) appearance in Italy.

Put on your backpack, wear your trusty Vans, grab the skateboard, and reopen the dusty almanac of adolescence.