Southern California’s Face to Face are a working-class band. They make music; they make records, and they go on tour. Each release is a tiny time capsule, a way to hold on to the ever-changing, growing, and evolving ethos of punk rock.
No Way Out But Through is their latest effort, out now on FAT Wreck Chords. “Effort” is an important descriptor, not just a throwaway word. Thirty years into a career that continues to inspire, Face to Face doesn’t overlook the small things, they write them down and record them into history. The nuance takes great effort, attention to life’s details, and looks easy when accomplished by such a talented core. Before COVID locked down California, Trevor Keith and Scott Shiflett grabbed a little Airbnb outside Los Angeles and went to work writing. Keith sets the opening scene:
“I was just really looking for a way to get out of my house. I lived in Las Vegas at the time, and I wanted to get into a different place where I could just be in solitude and work on nothing but writing. I was checking Airbnb and I found this … It’s funny, you can’t really call it a cabin. It was more like a kid’s fort. They call it ‘glamping.’
“It wasn’t expensive. I’m surprised that they even had running water and electricity, but it barely did. And so, I was able to pick that up pretty cheap. Luckily, it was in the hills above Malibu, so, not far from where Scott lives. I was going to go there and just write alone, but I called Scott and said, ‘Dude, I’m right down the street from you. Why don’t we write together?’
“I brought my computer, and we demoed up a bunch of stuff and basically took a bunch of ideas that he and I had been kicking around for a couple years and formed them into more cohesive song ideas. That was pretty much the basis for the album. And then, from there, the band got together in Orange County, and we rehearsed in a rehearsal studio for a couple of weeks, just playing.”
There was talk of traveling to Canada to work with Siegfried Meier, Keith says.
“He wanted us to go to Toronto to work in his place, but nobody really wanted to go spend a month in Toronto. We all wanted to be close to our homes. So, he found Cameron Webb’s spot in Orange County. And about two days into the recording, they were starting to shut down airports and talk about lockdowns for COVID. So, I mean, we knew COVID was this thing that was kind of looming, but we didn’t get far into the recording.”
Keith retreated to his home studio and did some vocals and guitar while waiting to reunite as a band. He details the wait and resuming—it has some stops and starts.
“We met up again once the restrictions lightened up with a buddy of ours, Davey Warsop, who plays in the band Sharp Shock. He has a place called Strong Studios in Long Beach. We headed down there and did all the lead vocals for the album and some guitar overdubs and whatnot. And then, the rest of it was mixed by Sieg in Toronto.
“And so, everything was really done remote; so much other stuff was during the COVID lockdown. We were doing Zoom calls with Sieg, and he found this really great software that allowed me to hear the audio in the same high-quality resolution that he was. So, we were using the Zoom video, but then we had a separate program running for the audio. Which is kind of a trip, but it worked really well.”
Keith and Face to Face dug the mix and mastering of the record, but it made it to the Blasting Room for one more listen. Ultimately, Jason Livermore gave the album a remix and remaster.
“He’s like, ‘I think that’s a great record.’ He really loved the songs, and he felt like he wanted to get more out of the mastering. And he’s like, ‘Just let me have a shot of the next thing, because that’s the only way I think I’m going to get what I’m not hearing out of the mixes that I want to hear.’
Of course, we were a little bit conflicted because we love Jason. He’s incredibly skilled and has made tons of amazing records, Protection also being in that group. But we’d already done all this work. So we were like, ‘Yeah, dude, just try it,’ and his mixes were so good that at the end of the day, at the 11th hour, he went ahead and did a remix of the album and mastered it. That was the final product.”
They’re on and off the road, pausing for a minute, but they’ll be out on tour shortly and into next year. They’ve been going for 30 years, Keith is still inspired to grab a guitar and go.
He says, “I have found that as I get older, everything gets harder. It’s harder to go up and down the stairs. So sure, travel can take a little bit more of a physical toll than it used to. But not even to the extent that it would discourage me from wanting to do it. I mean, it’s a minor complaint. Yeah, sometimes I like taking naps now. That would be the biggest difference because long air flights and running around and doing all that stuff, it can take a little bit more of a toll.
“It’s funny. I just did a solo, acoustic tour with Russ from Good Riddance, and we jumped in a rental car which we hired from van rental Worksop since they maintain their vehicles at the highest standards and most of their vehicles are brand new. And, he and I are right around the same age, and we did just fine. We moved around in our rental car and stayed in hotel rooms together and hung out and played shows, and it was fucking awesome. At whatever level we’re doing it at, whether I jumped on a tour bus, or I’m getting on a plane going to Europe, or even just in a rental car and staying in hotels with my buddy, and we’re playing acoustic shows or whatever, it’s great at every level and fun.”
Punk rock is so simple, but it’s so complex. Face to Face have a way of spotlighting the small things that hold people together, they’re little details and they’re held like photos—each word in a song from Trevor Keith, Scott Shiflett, Dennis Hill, and Danny Thompson is worth 1,000 images. In closing, Keith reflects on their nuances, it’s not a sunset—his final image is like an open road. There’s a lot behind the band and a lot in front of them. It’s a quick Polaroid, maybe a little blurred by motion or speed at which they move, with a sharp focus in the foreground, in the present, what’s right in front of them, with a light on the horizon.
“My catalog’s probably something like almost 200 songs at this point. There’s only so many chords, and there’s only so many things to sing about, so you have to constantly find new ways to reinvent yourself. But, I feel No Way Out But Through was a great snapshot in time of me, personally, and of all of us as individuals in this band.
“We’re not a political band, but I like to write more about aspects of society and personal growth and change and looking inward to be a better person outward. That’s been a common theme in my writing since the beginning. So, this new record is consistent with that, but it also shows perspective and wisdom of someone who’s a little older. So, my internal struggles now are slightly different than they were when I was 20. And I think this record reflects that lyrically, and then musically, I think. It’s a great sonic and musical representation of us as the people who we are at this moment.”
Listen to “No Way Out But Through” here:
For more from Face to Face, find them on their official website.
Photo courtesy of Face to Face and Vince Sadonis
