Kellin Falconer - Face Again (feat. Cassie Summers)

Pop Punk World Review by Dave Sanders
Kellin breaks from the Juneau pack for a one-off single, but does he manage to hit the mark or is he missing his bandmates?


Kellin is aiming to prove he can stand on his own two feet, but was he successful?

Clearly aiming for the title of hardest working man in rock, guitarist Kellin Falconer revealed just last week that he was set to work on a solo project in tandem with his number one priority, his pop-punk band Juneau. And now with the Chicago five-piece having released their debut single Silence to critical acclaim before locking themselves away in their practice space to get to work on their first full-length album, the 25-year old lead guitarist has decided to step out from the relative quiet of the shadows of Juneau lead singer Dallas Conners to show us just what he is capable of doing on his own. That his debut single features a brand new verse from former pop-punk princess Cassie Summers - who has fronted both Big Light Show and Cosmic Beauty Contest - is testament to not only the esteem that Falconer is held in within his own scene, but also how determined, committed and focused he truly is. With his eyes set on the prize, the tattooed guitarist brings us something of a gentler offering than we heard in his band's debut, but how well does it work?

For all of us at Pop Punk World - we've been fans of Juneau for a number of years when they were still stuck in Chicago - it was quite jarring and unsurprising to hear such a soft and gentle sound coming from a man quite renowned within the scene for his energetic, upbeat and punchy guitar riffs and live arena wizardry. For those who are aware of everything he's done to date, it will probably be a case at first of "who is this?" but trust us, give it a chance. The track is definitely a grower for pop punk fans, although it will probably hit home far faster for those not all that au fait with Kellin's day job. Sensitive, ambient and telling such a wonderful story, Face Again is one of those tracks that will definitely come to be remembered by people from a wide array of scenes. Telling a tale of a man (who may or may not be Kellin himself) chasing long lost love across the country, the track will have moments that resonate with even the coldest of hearts. Lyrically, Kellin's ability to reach out to the listener is a talent rarely seen in his work with Juneau. As wonderful as Dallas Conners' lyrics for that particular project might be, in Face Again, Kellin shows that he has something of a more emotional approach, delving deep into the mindset of lost love and the way it can warp the judgement. If there's one highlight of what is a surprisingly great song, it's the lyrics for sure, which really serve to showcase the talent of a man who seems intent on proving himself as more than just a guitarist from a pop-punk band (and with more of this, he'll certainly be well on the way).

Kellin's voice has always been a prominent part of Juneau's music, even if just as a backing to the rather more flamboyant crooning of Dallas Conners. Here, though, he shows an all new side to his vocal, cleaning it up, toning it down and stripping it bare to produce something emotive and haunting that really brings out the pain of loss that is inherent throughout the song. The bare honesty in his voice is bettered only by the fantastically subtle guitar work throughout. Intricate and evolving, the mid-paced finger picking and chords are perfectly pitched against the prominent place, playing a very apt second fiddle and exquisitely framing the singer's voice. And then there's the featuring of Cassie Summers. From one new star of the pop-punk spectrum to a former hero. Cassie has been somewhat quiet (by her own standards) since being tossed from Big Light Show a couple of years ago, turning her eye to management and record label business - as well as starting a family - but there's no doubt the former Cosmic Beauty Contest singer has a wonderful voice, and this is the perfect platform to display it on. Known more for her high pitched nasally pop-punk musings, here her voice is soft and withdrawn, dreamy and rich as she plays the part of 'the other half' in this emotional track. Her inclusion on a track by an artist still so new to the scene will be a surprise for many, no doubt, but Cassie is a fantastic addition, and just one of many masterstrokes pulled out of the bag by Kellin on this track.

It seems unlikely that Kellin Falconer will focus on acoustic pop like this as his full-time venture. At least not any time soon. With Juneau seemingly just winding up for a big push for the top, and a full-length album from the five-piece on the horizon, the downside is that we'll likely not get to hear more of Mr Falconer's wonderful and subtle acoustic music for the foreseeable future. All the more reason to simply love this and cherish it. At least for the timebeing.

Rating: 4/5 For fans of: City and Colour, The Wonder Years, Modern Baseball

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Kellin says: In all honesty, this is just me getting bored and looking to have a little fun. Don't get me wrong, I love the song, and I would not release something unless I was proud enough to put my name to it, but it is little more than me just having a little mess around to see what I could come up with. When most guys don't have a girlfriend, they sit in their house and play videogames, eat, masturbate to excess, I suppose, but I tend to just sit and ass around with my guitar and I'm basically always writing, whether it's for Juneau or just for my own enjoyment. In this instance I got lucky in that a song that I loved came out of the other end, so I just recorded it and I thought it sounded good enough to release as a single on my own, without the band. I like it because, I think, it's just so different to what I normally do. It's normally all big chords and pace, but this is quiet and slower and stuff and I thought that was quite nice. It shows I have more than just the one string to my bow. I like my vocals in it as well - again that was a result of just experimenting around with the sound. I wanted to convey emotion more than I normally get a chance to with my vocals, and because this is such a sad song, I took a few takes to get the sort of low pitched longing tone associated with being like...apart from someone you love. The guitars were done in one take though, which was nice. I like playing acoustic music, and it's not something I get the chance to do much. It's just so like basic and laid back, acoustic music, and I like that, so it was nice to get the chance to write something like that.

Lyrically, I keep getting asked if this is my own experience, and I can honestly say that it's not at all. I was watching a documentary about a guy driving across America to try to win his wife back after he learned she had cheated when she was away for work. Alright, alright it was Rufus Humphrey's wife in Gossip Girl. Anyway, this is what I imagined it would be like for him, driving with all that anguish and hurt welled up, trying to understand and desperate to get there in time to make it all better. I tried to imagine what it would be like to be out on the open road with only a stereo and a pack of cigarettes for company to try to create that thought of isolation. And then of course there was the verse from Cassie Summers, which, in my opinion, totally makes the song. I wanted to inject a little bit of the flipside of the coin into the story as well, but give it a sort of dreamy element to suggest it's just what he imagines his wife to be thinking. Is that confusing? I could see myself having to explain that a few times over the next few weeks. Dammit. Overall, though, this is the first time I've really dealt with what I suppose was sorrow in a track of mine, so it was cool to get to experiment with some themes that don't come too often with the band. I like these lyrics a lot, actually. They tell a story, which I always think is a cool thing in pop that we don't get as much of a chance to do in rock music.

Getting Cassie on this song was, without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest coup. I was a massive fan of hers when she was in Big Light Show - I even went to see them once when they played in Chicago. So when I realised that I wanted a female voice on the track, I knew immediately who I wanted to reach out to. She's a legend in pop-punk as well as having a voice that is so strong yet sweet. So I sent of this speculative tweet, not even expecting as much as a rejection. When she accepted, I very nearly shit my pants. But yeah, she was so cool to work alongside. I had to pack up my shit and get out to her home to get her voice for the verse, but she was such a pro, and she was weirdly happy to be working with me. That might have just been a desire to get back into music as opposed to wanting to sing for me, though. Whatever it was, it was an insane experience, and she really enhanced the song. She got my vision right from the off, and she nailed the verse in exactly the way I wanted it. I'm a perfectionist, and Cassie was perfect.

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Artist: Kellin Falconer ft. Cassie Summers
Title: Face Again
Genre: Acoustic/pop-punk
Recorded: Los Angeles, CA
Written: Kellin Falconer
Produced: Dallas Conners
Album: TBC
Label: N/A

Sounds like:

Black - Kellin Falconer
Blue - Cassie Summers

We've been driving all night
And I'm sick of this open road
Tired of looking through bloodshot eyes
Hoping to see your face again
Making our way through stormy weather
Telling myself it'll all get better
But I'm tired of dreaming through hazy vision
Longing to see your face again

And it was mine right from the start
The blame for this time we've spent apart
Nights spent smoking my mind to nothing
Calling you up in a hope you've been bluffing
But I never imagined that I had been dreaming
Waking up in a cold sweat screaming
Even with my eyes open I'm living a nightmare
I wait for the stars so I can wish that you'd still care

We've been driving all night
And I'm sick of this open road
Tired of looking through bloodshot eyes
Hoping to see your face again
Making our way through stormy weather
Telling myself it'll all get better
But I'm tired of dreaming through hazy vision
Longing to see your face again

My broken heart can never be patched
You can tape it up but I'll still see the cracks
Now I'm finding your eyes at the bottom of beers
Praying the Doc can just roll back these years
And the way you held my hand was perfect
Making every heated word feel worth it

Did I waste my time hoping for redemption
You were too strong willed to entertain exemption
I was a dick, but you were too cold
Let's patch it up before we both grow old
Did you think that I would just let it go
Curl up and die without playing this show

We've been driving all night
And I'm sick of this open road
Tired of looking through bloodshot eyes
Hoping to see your face again
Making our way through stormy weather
Telling myself it'll all get better
But I'm tired of dreaming through hazy vision
Longing to see your face again

There's scars running deep but I keep them obscured
A pain laying low that can never be cured
If you just bring it back then I'll never be lost
Is a moment's pride worth as much as a lifetime cost?
This road's too long and I'm tired of the drive
Give me your heart and your hands to revive

We've been driving all night
And I'm sick of this open road
Tired of looking through bloodshot eyes
Hoping to see your face again
Making our way through stormy weather
Telling myself it'll all get better
But I'm tired of dreaming through hazy vision
Longing to see your face again

So goodbye for a lifetime
I was hoping I'd see your face again
I've been praying for a lifeline
Dreaming that you'd come back and relieve my pain
But now all hope is gone, all chances lost and my face is drawn
I was driving all night to get back to you
Though our love was lost I still dreamed we'd pull through
But fuck you, fuck your face, see I'm missing
Remember the face that you should have been kissing

We've been driving all night
And I'm sick of this open road
Tired of looking through bloodshot eyes
Knowing I'll never see your face again
Making our way through stormy weather
Resigning myself that it'll never get better
But I'm tired of dreaming through hazy vision
Longing to see your face again