Friday, March 20, 2009

Posted by xCHIPxSEM |
Louisville had a knack for pumping out great bands and Falling Forward is definitely in my top 3. How this record is no longer in print is beyond me. "Hand Me Down" is just one of those records you have to get someone to sit down and listen to because when today's generation hears the word "Emo", they probably think of 4 or 5 guys dressed in extremely tight pants, ironed hair, goofy sunglasses and pastel colored shirts. If thats what you think of when you hear the word "Emo", extend your arm, make your hand into a fist, punch yourself in the face, then scroll to the end of this post and download this record to learn something. Emo or emo-core is emotional hardcore. Aggressive music with emotional lyrics and/or vocals. Rites of Spring and Embrace (arguably) started it and these bands from the midwest really did a great job perfecting it. Falling Forward and Split Lip were definitely my favorites (along with Dayspring) but lets not get off track. "Hand Me Down" had this energy that seems lacking in alot of music today. The vocals are yelled/sung with this strained style that you could tell when he finished tracking he was probably crying from the emotion. Live, I never got to see em (Louisville Joe may be able to help me with this one) but I imagine the crowd crying while singing along. This record was originally released on the now defunct Initial Records and has been out of print since the early 2000s. Such a shame...I wish someone would reissue this with a remastering for the new generation of kids who need to be educated. Members went on to Elliot but this is their defining moment in my opinion. I looked on youtube for a live video of the band but kept finding some new band of the same name. Either way, Ive included a link to download this amazing record so I encourage you to check it out and enjoy this as much as I do.

Falling Forward - Hand Me Down

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DLJBDJET

11 comments:

rybunal said...

amazing record. chris has a new band that is more along the lines of falling forward. really upbeat stuff.

i looked many times on youtube for falling forward vids and all that come up are a crappy NU-EMO-METALish band. i want to shake them and scream in their faces to change their name

breadman said...

love this band.
picked the cd up when it came out from Vique who ran Rev. Uk from her house in Manchester.
great record.

xCHIPxSEM said...

Rybunal, do you know what his new band is called? Or do you have a link so I can hear it?

xjoex said...

This record is amazing, so is the ep/record 4-songs with Wrap around suit, 26-16 magazine...

-Joe

David Agranoff said...

I gave FF there first out of town show. I think it was a benefit for our Animal rights group S.A.V.E. I might have a flyer for that show. Enkindal, split lip and somebody else played too.

Chris's new band is playing with guilt in Louisville so you can find that info on guilt's myspace.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately I only got to see FF play live once. They were exiting the scene right as I was entering, around 1993/94. That show, needless to say, was awesome.

On a related note, I first saw Elliott (Chris' next band) play with Snapcase and Refused in a tiny, sweltering club in 1996. Amazing. I saw Elliott play probably 20 times, at least.

But anyway, yeah, Falling Forward, classic Louisville emo hardcore.

Halifax Collect said...

I loved this album to death when it came out and I still do. Higdon was amazing in this band. I have a VHS tape with a local show with them. It is intense!

Augustus Bowman said...

great great record, stoked to see it get some love

BloodyGuts said...

holy shit. thanks for this download. so exciting to hear again!!

Anonymous said...

hand me down is a great record, i still play it almost every week. chris higdon's new band is called frontier(s), they're kind of more rocking again like early Elliott. You can find them on myspace here: http://www.myspace.com/frontiersband.
I ripped the myspace-songs a while ago, you can dl it on my blog:
http://thesewallsarefuckingtired.blogspot.com/search/label/Frontier(s)

Anonymous said...

I love Falling Forward. I'm from Louisville but I got into the scene just after they broke up. I've always lamented the fact that I never got to see them.

Props for having this and helping spread good music around. We can't forget these great bands.