Local Music Review

Christmas Fuller Project
The Philosophy of Time Travel

Christmas Fuller Project brings a certain D.I.Y. mentality to the Fayetteville indie scene. The band produced its first demo/EP in the milkhouse behind guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Nick Roland’s house (aptly titling it The Milkhouse EP). The EP was far from studio-quality, so I was certainly skeptical when I heard that the band was attempting to record their first full-length album—The Philosophy of Time Travel—at home. Thinking only in terms of sound quality, this album is undoubtedly one of the best products to come directly out of the Fayetteville music scene.

So, the band definitely grew in their ability to capture their sound in a recording. The question, then, must be whether or not they grew in their ability to write and play music. The Milkhouse EP, while fun for friends and family, wasn’t breaking any new ground and certainly wasn’t the high point of their career. The Philosophy of Time Travel is an entirely different story. It’s difficult to believe that the same band that released Milkhouse last May just released this new album.

What’s changed? The band has literally moved light years ahead (maybe in a time machine?) with their songwriting. Lyrically, the band challenged itself to hit new levels. For the most part, the songs are deeper lyrically—striving for more pressing content and better imagery. Musically, this doesn’t even seem like the same band. The songs are more creative, more developed, and flat-out riskier than anything on Milkhouse (and probably anything done by anyone else in Fayetteville). The band abandons what makes some of their fans happiest (shiny, simple pop music) by providing more than your healthy share of weird studio tricks—synthesized organ lines (“Meet Me in Montauk”), controlled chaos (“Ghosts Are For Graveyards”), jet-engine feedback (“The Part That Lives”), and plenty of backwards craziness (“Prelude” and “Pop Philosophy”).

Roland pushes his ability as a multi-instrumentalist by adding banjo and saxophone to his growing repetoire (which already included guitar, keys, and vocals). Drummer Cameron Heger adds glockenspiel in several songs, which is a great touch. However, like The Beatles, CFP is certainly getting by with a little help from their friends. The band should seriously consider adding some of the guest musicians on this album to their full-time lineup [they already added Tyler Ceola from the now defunct Famous In May, who appears on “Learn How to Die (Country Step)”]. Kassie Sen’s operatic siren song on “Captain Webb vs. the English Channel” and “1875” are the highlights of those songs, but her biggest contribution is her vocals on the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind-inspired “Meet Me in Montauk”. Caleb Sieck’s violin and Michael Bollero’s cello appear on half the album, and the pair gives CFP more than their money’s worth of quality strings.

The album, which is somewhat of a concept album of time traveling, is simply good. A lot of times, I am guilty of judging local music to a lower standard than the rest of the albums I own. I’m not doing that here. The album—though eclectic—really does pull together into one great piece of music with several highlights. Personally, I suggest listening to “Captain Webb vs. the English Channel” for it’s epic swell and complex nature, “Pop Philosophy” for it’s mostly laid-back pop beauty, “Meet Me in Montauk” for a pure indie rock love song with lyrical depth, and “Try” for it’s sweet fiddle action.

You’re not going to be disappointed by this album. I’m not going to inflate this album so much as to tell you it’s one of the all-time greats, but it’s certainly good. You probably won’t find it on any year-end lists of any major music reviewer, but that’s in-part because they’ve never heard it.