Reviewed by Kit Burns
Farchild/Chivalry Has Died
Washington State artist Farchild is about as far from the trademark Seattle sound as it gets. Then again, many of us still can’t believe that the Emerald City’s glory days of grunge were almost twenty years ago. Farchild eschews heavy-metal bombast for a seductively dark foray into electronic rock, hinting at the industrial crunch of Nine Inch Nails (her most obvious influence) without abandoning the pop hooks that her sultry, ominously attractive voice is most suited for. Farchild’s lady-vampire takes a near soulful turn on “Red Moon,” an atmospheric, moody cut with Cure-like ethereal rhythms. On “Timmy’s a Rebel” and “Orbital,” Farchild lets her vocals rip through the mix, recalling the banshee wailing of vintage Sinead O’Connor and Siouxsie Sioux.
If all the descriptions above seem to conjure images of Goth, well, Farchild is on the border between Goth and modern synthesized dance, darkwave with a subtle undercurrent of hip-hop, as on “Orbital” and the funky “Quo.” The R2-D2 blips and beeps of the opening instrumental “Quite a Bomb” should clue you in that Farchild is staking different territory than other Seattle musicians, past or present. And wasn’t that the philosophy of the Seattle scene to begin with, to do whatever the hell that you wanted?
