Farnborough-based five piece The Fins, have been doing very well for themselves. They have seven UK tours and nearly 200 gigs under their belt as well as numerous TV and radio appearances. Impressively, they sold out their first single ‘Adaptor’ back in 2008 on pre-sales alone.
Consisting of singer, Ryan Adger, drummer, Lawrence Arnold, bass player, Rauf Jordan, and guitarists, James Bending and Paul McDonald, The Fins have been described on more than one occasion as an excellent live band with an “explosive performance.” So, how was this energy going to come across on their first long player And When You Get To The End ?
Pretty well actually. A collection of popular tracks that the band have performed live time and time again as well as new unheard material, it feels like an album that’s had a lot of hard work and effort spent on it.
The band state that the album was a result of more than a year of hard work and “pain”, mainly being in the form of a wrist injury incurred by drummer Lawrence as a result of spending three days laying down the drum tracks. This put him out of action for several months afterwards but he is now happily recovered to drum another day.
Stand out tracks for this album are ‘This Is Madness’, Foo Fighters-esque ‘Them & Us’, ‘Together=Alone’, ‘No Joke’ and ‘Ouroboros’.
You can hear influences of System of a Down in ‘Try On My Eyes’, and hints of Biffy Clyro and Nickleback throughout. This album makes the band sound just as polished as any of their established counterparts.
Reading about them on their official website, they come across as a bunch of hardworking, fun-loving yet modest lads, which injects some personality into the music. I’m looking forward to catching them in a live venue near me soon. Onwards and upwards for The Fins!
