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Radical Face

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Peel the scars from off my back
I don't need them anymore
You can throw them out
Keep them in your mason jars
I've come home
Radical Face, "Welcome Home"

Radical Face is a one-man band consisting of Ben Cooper. The band has an Indie Folk sound with a heavy focus on unique imagery and surreal instrumentation.

The first album, Ghost, was released in 2007. The next full album The Roots was released in 2011, and was announced as the first part in a trilogy, called The Family Tree, which will follow a fictional family called The Northcotes throughout its generations. The second part of the trilogy, The Branches, was released in late 2013. The third album is set to release in March, 2016. Alongside the Family Tree albums, a corresponding series of EPs called "The Bastards" were released for free by the artist. An album "The Bastards" was released late 2015, containing the EP songs and a few new ones, and a single from the upcoming "The Leaves" album was released January 2016.


Radical Face contains examples of:

  • All There in the Manual:
    • The Radical Face website features a map with lots of information about the Family Tree series, including names for many characters and the songs' connections.
    • The map on the website confirms that the titular character from "The Mute" is a boy named Phillip.
  • Ambiguous Gender: The music video for "The Mute" doesn't specify what gender, if any, the titular mute is supposed to be. The story is narrated through the song, with a male vocalist, but the child playing the mute in the video is female, though it's hard to tell while watching since her costume covers her face.
  • Concept Album: Ghost is based on the concept of houses retaining memories and people leaving "ghosts" behind when they move away.
  • Cute Mute: "The Mute" in the music video is rather endearing and lovable.
  • The Dutiful Son: "Always Gold" is told from the perspective of one such character, remaining at home in their small hometown while his brother tries and eventually fails to travel far and is forced to return.
    And I was there when you grew restless
    Left in the dead of night
    And I was there when three months later
    You were standing in the door all beat and tired
    And I stepped aside…
    But I'm gonna be here 'til I'm nothing
    But bones in the ground…
  • Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The two brothers of "Always Gold", with the protagonist as The Dutiful Son and his brother as the one who ran away to chase his dreams.
    We were opposites at birth
    I was steady as a hammer
    No one worried 'cause they knew just where I'd be
    And they said you were the crooked kind
    And that you'd never have no worth
    But you were always gold to me
  • Hated Hometown: The protagonist's brother in "Always Gold" regards his hometown to be a place that he wants to escape from.
    But I am fine with where I am now
    This home is home, and all that I need
    But for you, this place is shame
    But you can blame me when there's no one left to blame
  • Parental Neglect: The narrator of the song "The Mute" suffers from this. The song ends with the titular mute running away from home so their parents can be happy without them. The music video makes it seem a bit more complicated; while the father visibly ignores the child, the mother's visibly distraught when they're gone.
  • Promotion to Parent: The speaker's older sister in "Family Portrait".
    Sister learned to be a mother
    before she'd ever played another part
  • Shown Their Work: The Family Tree albums only utilize instruments available during the time period they take place in.


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