Album Spotlight: Settle The Score by Fight Fair

 

By Ryan Germ
Remember in the Tiefighter article when I briefly mentioned my love of Fight Fair? Well it’s time, it’s time, it’s Vader time for an album spotlight of their classic debut full length, Settle The Score. I’m excited to talk about this record so without any further ado let’s hop right into this spotlight.

Track 1, Game On kicks off the record with poppy, sunny melodies. It’s fast, overwhelmingly happy, and catchy as fuck. It blends hardcore instrumentals with vocals that you would find in a boy band more than anything. It switches gears in the final 30 seconds with the most 2008 breakdown. Granted it’s still super fun, and the breakdown adds a lot to the charm. I enjoy it quite a lot and it’s probably the best sampler for what’s to come in this record.

The song Brain Freeze is also a summer anthem. The melodies are just as fun as the last, and the lyrics remind me of good times on the beach with the chorus confidently stating “We just wanna have some fun/We’re still young and on the run”. Around the 1:25 mark there’s a very short electronic drum part which is worth mentioning. After that there’s a part where the chorus repeats once over with only drums before everything kicks back in until the end.

Next up is my favorite and encapsulates everything I love about Fight Fair. Titled San Diego it kicks in with such high energy that it’s infectious even if you’re listening in a dark room with nothing else around you. The chorus is super fun and is about following your dreams because it could be the last time to do it. The drum roll into the first breakdown after the first chorus with the callout of “The last time to get what you deserve” never fails to get me stoked as fuck. The 2 step part that follows is just as fun and makes me wanna go to California and just have the time of my life with my Uncle Rico. The second breakdown comes in slower and heavier, before switching and going into a slower and heavier version of the chorus. 

Track 4 is their most popular song, it’s more poppy than the previous 3 with little hardcore influence and has super corny lyrics such as “You're my Audrey Hepburn and I'm your James Dean/So tell me will I get you girl by the end of the scene/But all I know is that girl you got me going again/And I think you like me to lets not pretend!”. But you can’t help but fall in love with the song even if you really want to shit on the lyrics. The chorus is one of the catchiest pop punk choruses I’ve ever heard and it has never been topped to this day in terms of there being a more addicting earworm. At the 2:30 mark there’s a synth breakdown which undeniably goes hard. The chorus comes back one more time and the song ends. God is that song a hit that should’ve gotten regular mainstream radio play.

Following that hit is a short song to let everyone catch their breath. Titled “For The Win” Fight Fair packs in so much in 30 seconds. It begins with a blistering fast part, a groovy stomp part, and it caps off with a 5 second long chugging breakdown.

After that very short song we have the title track which is about posers in the scene, but it’s motivating as it’s not just shitting on them for the sake of it. It gives directions on how to help improve your scene for the better with lyrics such as “Know the roots, think about some research/Book a show, buy the touring bands merch/You gotta give it up, give it give it up now”. It’s poppy with good breakdowns and has my favorite lyrics on the whole record. Instrumentally speaking there’s some good leads going on, and the breakdown after the first chorus being capped off with some claps is a great touch. My favorite part is the final 30 seconds when the instrumentals cut off before coming back super energetically with the lyrics “Go, Pick your feet up off the floor/Join in, there's always room for more/We're here to settle the score/So everythings gonna be just fine”

The penultimate song Beachfront Avenue comes in fast and is super fun, I know I’ve used that word a lot as a descriptor but it’s the overarching theme of this record. The riffs and leads on this song are really great, and when it goes to just the drums and gang vocals at the 1:30 mark is a chefs kiss. Lyrically it talks about keeping friendships after graduating, very fun song.

The final song, Your True Colors, kicks off with a snare roll and bell. Lyrically its about falling out with a friend over their shitty choices. The main rhythm is very gallopy, and it kicks into a breakdown pretty quickly. It goes into a 2 step part with some stutters. Then it goes into what’s undoubtedly the hardest breakdown with the rhythm for it being a 1-2, 1234, it’s tailor made for crowdkilling. It plunges you back to the fast and 2 step parts. Then it switches gears and builds to a breakdown over a lead and dramatic spoken word part. It cuts out one more time to showcase a heavier breakdown over ambient pick scratches and tremolo picking to close out this seminal easycore record.