It's always nice to see that there are still a few hardcore band out there who don't succumb to high levels of testosterone and hard guy poses. Take
Reach The Sky for example, they totally reflect upon the posi-core, youth crew scene of New York circa 1988. None of this retro perspective of how thing use to be back in the day, rather, "So Far From Home" is an attempted rebirth of installing the high energy, positive aggression of hardcore ala
Youth of Today and
Gorilla Biscuits (at times one could swear that Civ himself picked up the mic) while at the same time, trying to erase the jock mentality that a majority of this genre has evolved into. And even if Reach For The Sky try their darnest to reinstate the old school ethics of maintaining optimism, unity and benefiting their world around them (in this case, donating time to charities that involve helping out missing or abused children), watching they try inspirational enough for them to deserve props. ~ Mike DaRonco