THE FOLD-This Too Shall Pass

Dave's Take: I hope The Fold's music career doesn't pass too quickly, as their debut CD from 2006, This Too Shall Pass, has a number of catchy songs that you just can't help singing along too. As happens a lot for me, I discovered this band searching around on purevolume where they were listed at #1 on the charts and for good reason. Tooth and Nail has a solid catalog of awesome artists like Anberlin, The Classic Crime, Mae, MXPX, lately and it looks like they have another solid one with The Fold. The first song from this album on their purevolume page, the bouncy pop rock Gravity, was immediately stuck in my head and is a great lead off song for the album. The song starts off with some appropriate lyrics to start of a record

" So Let’s start at the beginning of thisstory
I was just a boy nowhere to call home"

and then bursts its way into a extremely addictive chorus that provides a good showcase for Daniel Cassidy's voice as he sings out:

"Just like gravity,
what draws you to me
Someone I didn’t know I needed
It’s like gravity, and it’s stronger than me
I need you here"

The Title Track continues with the same up-tempo beat present in Gravity and again we see that The Fold are great at writing lead-in hooks and explosive choruses such as this quickly sung chorus:

"Set set set, now you’re ready to go
You couldn’t make it better if it never belonged
You can take your time, figure it out
This is a call to all the pain (this too shall pass)"

This song like almost all of the songs deal with having hope about getting over past hardships.

Musically I couldn't help but find a lot of similarities between them and fellow label-mates Mae.
The similarity isn't bad as I like their use at times of a clean guitar sound, piano samples, and tight percussive sounding guitars and beautiful sung vocals

Personally I found the second half of the CD a little flat for me as I just didn't seem to find the same energy or strong songs that lead it off.

All in all a solid effort and if their new single "New Skeptic" is any indication they are moving forward in the right direction.

Similar Bands: Mae, Need To Breathe, Acceptance, All-American Rejects

Favorite Songs: Gravity, Title Track, Backseat Drivers, New City

Sound Samples/Videos:



GRAVITY


THE TITLE TRACK "LIVE"


BAND BIO:
For a group plagued by major-label woes and break-ups, that was exactly what was essential for The Fold’s resilience: healing. Evolving from several Chicago-based rock outfits including Warner Brothers signees, Showoff, it seemed The Fold’s previous groups were in a place most musicians only dream of…and then things changed.


“I suppose I gave up a lot when I left a major label band to start The Fold,” explains the band’s frontman and founder, Daniel Castady, “but if I did, it was because I knew that those things were passing away.”

Not staying silent long, The Fold reached true formation as Castady rounded out the line-up of talented young musicians with a montage of Chicago’s most promising, including Aaron Green on guitar, Keith Mochel on bass and Mark Rhoades on drums. Having already established themselves in previous bands not only allowed The Fold an added maturation or sorts, but also established them with a predetermined, concise focus on what they wanted to see transpire in their future.

In June 2005, The Fold entered the studio to begin recording their ‘Tooth & Nail Records’ debut, “This Too Shall Pass” with Steven Haigler (Brand New, Quicksand, Fuel), and finished things up in Seattle with Zach Hodges (Terminal, Dead Poetic).


“Lyrically, it deals with what has been going on with me over the past few years,” Castady elaborates, “It’s hard to write that out at times, and that is why this music has been so therapeutic for me; It helps me get through these frustrations. The title of the album is one of hope,” he concludes.

Musically speaking, The Fold feel “a song is not a song unless it sounds good when it’s stripped down to its bare components.” That is why every song is recorded as a demo with just an acoustic guitar and vocals before any further sonic enhancements are ever considered. This ability – to separate the focal point from the spotlights that enhance it – is an important quality that keeps the band centered in every sense of the word.


With such an auspicious start, The Fold are poised for greatness, standing behind 14 songs of something more than a marketing ploy, but actual inspiration and honesty from real life experiences, the group of early 20-somethings have nine years of experience backing their journey, and it’s all just begun.

LINKS:
www.purevolume.com/thefold
http://www.thefoldmusic.com/index2.htm
www.myspace.com/thefold
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