Far-Less, a Virginia-based outfit, embrace their resistance to easy categorization by fusing rock, metal, and pop into a sound marked by an upbeat outlook. The quintet—Brandon Welch on vocals, Ray Felts on drums, Joseph Powers on bass, Jordan Powers handling guitar and vocals, and Mark Karsten on guitar—draws from an eclectic range of sources stretching from Shadows Fall to Huey Lewis. In 2001 the group began as a trio when Felts joined forces with the Powers brothers after their previous local projects dissolved. That same year they issued the independent Emerge EP, after which devoted supporter Brandon Welch stepped in as vocalist.
The follow-up Apossibility EP arrived in 2002 with a sharper sonic focus, helping the band cultivate a loyal audience throughout Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Roughly twelve months after Welch’s addition they delivered their debut full-length, Broken Hearts Unite, on Silent Uproar Records under the guidance of producer Jamie King. Record labels took notice once the album surfaced, leading to a contract with Tooth & Nail in autumn 2004. The band wasted little time, issuing the more sophisticated Turn to the Bright EP that November and thereby heightening anticipation for Everyone Is Out to Get Us, which reached stores in February 2006. A Toast to Bad Taste appeared the following year.
