Punk-Rock Band Color Fred Deserves a Listen

When it was publicly announced that Fred Mascherino was leaving popular punk-rock act Taking Back Sunday, it caused quite a stir.

Mascherino had been Taking Back Sunday's lead guitarist and back-up vocalist for over four years and for the span of the last two successful albums, "Where You Want to Be" and "Louder Now."

For this reason, many fans were angered, surprised and even grief-stricken when hearing that the guitarist they'd come to know and love was leaving the band to pursue his solo career.

The announcement was first made public on October 4^th 2007 through a blog on the band's MySpace page.

However, anyone that was "in the loop" regarding Mascherino's side project, probably had an inkling that this was going to happen sooner or later, just not this soon.

The Color Fred was not just a recent creation. Mascherino reportedly had been playing around with his own material way before the days of joining Taking Back Sunday. In fact, Fred stated that he began the idea of a solo project back when he was a member of Breaking Pangaea, a former underground rock act.

The Color Fred's MySpace page has also been up and running since January 2006, so anyone with a computer could easily keep track of the rumors, updates and music. The actual album, "Bend to Break," was released last week on Oct 30, giving fans the opportunity to hear the entire album in full, rather than just a few tracks.

Mascherino's debut album from Equal Vision Records houses eleven tracks, most of which could be seen as extensions of the acoustic. However, one can tell that Fred had experimented with more than just guitar.

Most of the songs remain rock-esque while still maintaining an ethereal tone, allowing the album's classification to range anywhere from folk to rock to pop.

'If I Surrender' is probably the most well-known track off the album, as the song was previously posted on the site as the demo 'Choke,' while acoustic ballads like 'I'll Never Know' and 'Empty House' will surely become quick favorites of listeners.