Penny Black is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Further Seems Forever, released on October 23rd, 2012 through Rise Records. It marks the reunion of the band's original lineup—singer Chris Carrabba, guitarists Josh Colbert and Nick Dominguez, bassist Chad Neptune, and drummer Steve Kleisath—and is their first album together since 2001's The Moon Is Down. It is also the band's first album since breaking up in 2006 and reuniting in 2010. Read more on Last.fm.
Further Seems Forever (often abbreviated FSF) is a rock band based in Pompano Beach, Florida, United States that formed after the breakup of the well established hardcore outfit, Strongarm, in 1998. FSF has often been labeled a "Christian band" due to their long association with Tooth & Nail Records and performances at festivals such as Cornerstone, yet members maintain that their lyrics are open to free interpretation.
The band went through three different lead singers Read more on Last.fm
As someone with a fair amount of reverence for ‘The Moon is Down’, I was cautiously optimistic about that FSF lineup making a new record. It turns out that that’s how I ended up feeling throughout the album.
‘Penny Black’ is, unfortunately, mediocre and somewhat uneventful. Chris Carrabba seems to have been processed/produced beyond recognition, leaving the instrumentation to guide the emotional direction of the album. As is becoming common with former household names of the ’emo’ movement, the decade that’s passed seems to have taken that certain, particular feel along with it.