For Against – In The Marshes

For those familiar with the early history of For Against, this re-issue of In The Marshes is cause for celebration. Originally pressed on 10-inch vinyl by Independent Project in 1990, In The Marshes had six songs. Words On Music has put together this new CD version and done us the favor of including two others – different versions of two of the original songs – that would otherwise have been lost to history.

Recorded in 1986, these songs sound of a piece with that era. Instead of featuring drummer Greg Hill, the original six songs have an imposing drum machine keeping the beat. This seems odd because the recordings were made while the band was taking a break from recording its debut LP, Echelons, on which Hill played a critical role. But maybe the other two members, bassist/vocalist Jeff Runnings and guitarist Harry Dingman, wanted to explore a 4AD sound on their own. It’s interesting because it was the pair of Hill and Dingman who eventually split from Runnings after For Against released its second album, December. Shifting alliances…?

In any case, this document of early For Against shares with Echelons an attention to atmosphere and mood. Dingman’s simple, beautiful guitar work doesn’t suffer from the 4-track recording process. Its fidelity and tone still communicate. Lyrically more spare than their early albums, In The Marshes has spacious vocals heavily reverbed. Same recognizable voice but a lot more sustained notes and open spaces. The title track, however, has singing by only Hill and Dingman, which explains why it always sounded different from the others. It’s one of the more gorgeous and moody tunes of that period in music, across the genre as a whole. It’s easy to be nostalgic from memory, but the re-issue gives us the benefit of hearing these songs again and still I would make that case.

“The Pugatory Salesman” comes with a punishing sound unlike, really, anything else the band did. It has ominous electronic drums and a low end like storm clouds. Piercing through all of it, though, is a banshee of a feeding-back guitar. Layered underneath much of it, Dingman has opaque, dense chords and some notes, bent up or down for effect. “Tibet” gets the most ethereal, as though the band had been listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins. Phase-modulated and delayed guitar lines and keyboard chords change rarely, and the vocals consist not of words but of near chants. It’s the antidote to “Purgatory Salesman.”

The song “Fate” most closely approximates the recordings on Echelons. Had it featured Hill on drums, it would have been right at home on that album. “Amnesia” has a similar beat and also might have been decently matched to the the band’s first album. It has a lot of guitar overtones/harmonics, but then some of the other tracks achieve their mood this way.

Probably the best-known track from In The Marshes is “Amen Yves,” even if “best known” means that a relative handful of people obsess over it. It has cropped up on people’s “best of” lists, web mixtapes, and apparently dance-club set lists here and there because of its undeniable danceability, despite its dark character. It’s stamped with 80s, too, in a way that makes it sound a little dated despite it being a lovely indie-rock lullaby(?): “Amen, amen, amen, amen Yves / Time for you to go to sleep.” Also, it’s re-done as one of the two bonus tracks that augment the original six, meaning that you can finally hear its original version. It’s largely intact and instantly recognizable as the same song, but it has a couple of rougher edges. The recording quality seems a bit diminished but it could just be the relative lack of effects. And hearing Hill drum to the song is a treat.

The other bonus track is a studio version of “Amnesia,” and this is an extraordinary find for those who loved Echelons. Here, Hill adds some frantic and nerve-wracking drums to what was a fairly serene song the first time around. It’s been turned into an edgy and at time tribal slice of post-punk. Not only is this evidence of Hill’s great contributions to the For Against sound, this track is a revelatory contribution to the ongoing legacy of this important band. The vinyl version of In The Marshes was always a glimpse into the band’s creative process, like a secret history, and having it again – and added to – feels like a gift.