Face to Face - Over It (1994)

I think I was the only one of my friends to like Face to Face for some reason. Neil from Tribal War Records turned me on to them after I inquired about their first LP reissue on Fat Wreck Chords. I always thought they were southern California’s answer to Chicago’s Pegboy, simple, melodic punk songs that were energetic and easy to sing along to.

While I liked their music, I always had mixed feelings about Face to Face. There were rumors (and demos) floating around of their hair-metal band background and doubts of their intentions in a scene that was rapidly becoming more and more dogmatic about it’s D.I.Y. ethic, and becoming more of a commodity to be capitalized on. Along with Green Day, Jawbreaker, and Samiam, Face to Face signed to a major label subsidiary, the poorly named Victory Music (Victory Records was a well-known hardcore label from Chicago), on which Over It was released.

Over It compiles some tracks from previous singles and EPs, but also adds a second guitarist, Chad Yaro, to “fill out the sound.” The added guitar tracks and re-mixing made this record of familiar songs sound unfamiliar to me. The sounds is more full, that’s for sure. But gone was that familiar Westbeach Studio sound, and in it’s place was a grittier, fuzzier sound. It took me a while to get used to, and left me wondering if this was the future sound of Face to Face and melodic punk. This was not to be the case, as their next album, Big Choice, had the cleaner sound I liked. 

Face to Face - Over it (1994)