Cease and Desist: The Ep Formely Known As 'Fonopoly'

In the summer of 2001, the up-and-coming San Diego septet F.o.N. was preparing to release their recording, an EP follow-up to their full-length Hooked On FON-IX. Deciding to keep with post-slacker, pop-culture-saturated vibe of their first LP's title, they decided to call it "FoNOPOLY" and worked up a clever cover that parodied the box of Hasbro's famous game, Monopoly. Hasbro didn't like that very much. They sent out a Cease and Desist letter before the record hit the stores, forcing the band to scrap all existing copies and to release the album with different artwork, under a different title. Undeterred, F.o.N. called it Cease and Desist: The EP Formerly Known as "FoNOPOLY," a cheeky move that befits their sense of humor. The upside to this whole situation is that the band now has an excellent story to sell themselves with, plus the music to back it up. F.o.N. is truly a post-post-alternative band — every member was born 1980 or later (the drummer was born in 1988), and they grew up not just in a post-Nirvana world (Kurt was dead by the time these guys hit adolescence), but in a culture where nothing ever dies, nothing ever goes away, and everything is new. So, they draw no difference between Weezer, new wave, arena metal, hip-hop, '70s TV, or any kind of pop culture reference — they even cover Chris de Burgh's "Lady in Red," a song that was a hit when most of the group was six years old. That means that this music has a bunch of reference points — some intentional, some not — all tied together under the modern rock umbrella. Though modern rock production can be a bit too evenhanded at times — yeah, it's loud, with lots of distorted guitars, but there needs to be more shift in the dynamics and the color of the sonics — it's easy to look past that and hear that the band pulls together a bunch of different influences in enjoyable, exciting ways. They have good hooks, not just in the guitar riffs but in the vocals; they have kinetic energy (fueled by that wild 12-year-old drummer); and they think nothing of blending pop, metal, reggae, and punk — not by playing it all together, but giving each style a separate part of the song, whether it's the verse, chorus, or bridge. Above all, there's enthusiasm and good spirits to the music — they're having fun, and it's easy to have fun with them. And if it takes a lawsuit to bring F.o.N. to a wider audience, so be it — they deserve wider exposure.