When you listen to Ferguson you might think something like “is there some sort of 90s revival I didn’t catch up on?” but the answer to the question why this record sounds so authentically 90s is that it is from the 90s. Ferguson were a band that existed between 94 and 96 and consisted that were part of or went on to form bands like Crush My Calm, Mr. Willis of Ohio, Mine or Cataract. This one-sided 12” limited to 300 copies is something like their heritage released more than a decade after their break up.
Ferguson play emotive hardcore between mid 90s screamo, revolution summer style and late Fugazi and taking into consideration that this record was recorded in the garage of one band member’s parents’ garage its sound is amazing. The songs live mainly of their dynamics and the hookish lead guitars. They got a lot of drive and verve and groove (in the good sense of the word) plus good, personal lyrics. I really like this record.
When you browse through myspace you might stumble upon another, contemporary band called Ferguson that is from Hildesheim(D) and plays (in their own categorization) emo/punk/hardcore. If you compare the new Ferguson to the old one you see the whole dilemma of how emo, punk and hardcore are not what they were supposed to be any more (if they ever were…). However there is still people out their who define hc/punk/emo in a similar way as I do and there is still bands that have the fire that Ferguson have on these recordings. Maybe we should force the new Ferguson to listen to the old one. Maybe they just wouldn’t understand…
These four songs are like a message from some fabled glory days when emo wasn’t a fashion but a statement. Maybe it is really time for a revival. Let the next summer be a revolution summer!
[jan]
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