“No matter how far we go, it’s all a fragment of a whole.
There’s no escape from the glow, we’ll take our seats at the throne.
Wonderland is now our home.”

I’m a fan of music. Not all music, but most. It would have to be damn near unlistenable for me to not give something a chance. That’s not to say I like everything I hear. As a good friend of mine says, rather consistently I might add, “I can respect it, but it’s just not something I’m in to.” There have been a few bands that have fallen in to that realm for me. Matchbook Romance (who do an decent job of ripping off bands who are much better than they are), Fall Out Boy (who I enjoy in a casual sort of way), Panic! At the Disco (who I’ve simply stopped listening to) and about two-thirds of the bands the friend I mentioned earlier introduces me to. The problem that I run in to is that a majority of what I hear sounds like a majority of what I’ve already heard. It’s all variations on a theme.

For me, there is the type of music that makes you insane, that makes me want to cry, or smile, or laugh it’s so good. The type of music, that when you hear it for the first time, you can’t imagine listening to anything else for the next few months. Bands like Colour Revolt (S/T), Zykos (S/T), Say Anything (…is/was a Real Boy), Gatsby’s American Dream (Volcano), mewithoutYou (Catch for Us The Foxes), and Circa Survive (Juturna) had such a profound effect on my outlook on music that I’m still feeling the repercussions. Those albums each raised the bar and redefined what I wanted from what I was listening to. They are the albums that I currently measure all other albums against.

Then, of course, are the bands that you fall in love with, the ones you return to from time to time, still able to sing or drum along. Bands like The Suicide Machines (Battle Hymns), The Slackers (The Question), Death Cab for Cutie (Transatlanticism), and old AFI (Black Sails in the Sunset) are bands that I can’t imagine not having in my musical arsenal (along with the bands mentioned earlier). So if you’re like me, you look for those bands that you know will become part of your permanent musical library, the bands you can recommend to someone wholeheartedly and know that you’re sharing something important.

 
Forgive Durden’s Wonderland is one of those albums. Both in content and execution, Forgive Durden has created a debut record of staggering proportions. I know I’m a little late in asserting this, as the record was released on Fueled By Ramen back in May, but this could easily be one of the best releases of 2006. Combining aspects reminiscent of Gatsby’s American Dream and Straylight Run, Forgive Durden has forged an album and a sound entirely their own. Steeped in metaphor, Wonderland exerts a confidence and a ferocity not heard (by me) since Say Anything dropped their masterpiece of an opus …Is a Real Boy. There’s a lot to Wonderland. It’s a challenging record that is in no way challenging to listen to.

 Wonderfully produced, and written with a wit and clarity rarely heard so early in a band’s career, it is an album that begs to be listened to on repeat. Each song is different from the next, but the story of Wonderland holds the album together to form an absolutely cohesive whole. While not technically a concept album, you can easily decipher the concept behind it. Rather than give you my interpretation of it, or what their record label had to say about it, I’d recommend you simply listen to the music. And if you like what you hear, go out and buy the record. And if you’re feeling especially swell about it, tell someone. Hell, even if you’re not that in to it, tell someone you think might like it. Spread the word. Good music shouldn’t go unnoticed. And a band as talented as this should never, never be ignored.

If you’re interested in checking them out click the pictures to take a gander at their various interweb incarnations.

- Jared