Review: Silverstein, "A Shipwreck in the Sand"

Silverstein
“A Shipwreck in the Sand”
(Victory)

Long running Canadian screamo outfit, Silverstein, is still churning out records like it’s nobody’s business and their latest album, “A Shipwreck in the Sand,” is supposedly decidedly different. Supposedly.

Like the erstwhile other Canadian screamo band, Boys Night Out, Silverstein’s newest album is a concept record based around some story or another. While I’ve never shied away from concept albums (“Winners Never Quit” and “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” being among my favorites) it’s a harder pill to swallow from a pop-punk band.

Not to say that “Shipwreck” is a bad album. It is probably Silverstein’s most polarizing record, in as much as the heavy parts are pretty heavy and the delicate parts are very delicate. But make no mistake, Silverstein do what they do best, which is to write and perform catchy songs with intricate guitar parts.

As much crap as I’ll get for saying this, there’s a consistency in Silverstein’s overall songwriting and this album is no different. Concept record or not, they have a formula in writing songs that are fairly easy to digest and while I can’t say that this is their best album, it is, in essence, a Silverstein album.

from awesome to ashes

From Autumn to Ashes
"Holding a Wolf By the Ears"
(Vagrant)

I am not the biggest fan of From Autumn to Ashes. Their first record, "Too Bad You're Beautiful" was good enough, but subsequent albums were of poor execution. Their latest offering, "Holding a Wolf By the Ears," doesn't have anything too spectacular and nothing that I haven't heard on the first three Thrice albums, but it's still one of the finest melodic hardcore records I've heard in quite some time. Though they've traded in Ben Perri's Cookie Monster-esque growls for Fran Mark's ful-on sing/scream combo, it works in such a way where it's more of an attribute than a crutch. This may be the best record from this genre in quite some time.

good albums from a shitty genre

This morning I watched the new Aiden video because there was nothing else remotely interesting online. After I threw up my Kix back into my bowl, I'm left wondering why this band is the most popular of the all-but-dead screamo genre. I guess you can still count My Chemical Romance, but they've gone off the deep end with their over-the-top (word to Stallone) theatrics that there's really no going back to the Vet's Hall for those dudes. Aiden, however, will always be that shitty band that used to open for Schoolyard Heroes at 2nd Ave Pizza, as far as I'm concerned. If you want to see their tribute to AFI, go here, otherwise, if you want to keep your food down, I suggest staying as far away as possible.

Far too often, Aiden has been the target of my grudge against contemporary pop-punk because, quite frankly, they're the most manufactured and trite band out there. Then again, I'm also reminded that there are actually a few bands from the genre that are actually pretty good and have gone largely ignored. Boy do I love lists!

1. Park, "It Won't Snow Where You're Going" (Lobster)
Ladd Mitchell's Alkaline Trio-lite style of lyricism and songwriting is brutal. He takes all the pagan imagery and leaves in the heartbreaking tales of what it's like to love someone who'd rather sleep with a prick. At least that's the impression I get.

2. Run On Anything, "Various Demos" (Unsigned)
Back in the day (about three or four years ago), there was this stellar band from Tacoma, WA called Run On Anything. While they dabbled more on the pop-punk side, they still incorporated breakdowns and screaming into their songs, hence their inclusion on this list. They were really good and overshadowed by the likes of their 253 neighbors, Aiden (boo).

3. The Beautiful Mistake, "The Beautiful Mistake EP" (Sidecho)
Classic material on this debut. While they're probably more recognized from their full-length, "Light a Match For I Deserve to Burn," this EP shows all the rough edges of the band that made them approachable.

4. Keepsake, "The End of Sound" (Eulogy)
Before they started ripping off Incubus' riffs and making an entire concept album about oil and war, Florida's Keepsake released "The End of Sound," a real pop-punk record with screaming, which preceded screamo by at least two or three years. Had they been on a better label, I imagine this band getting much bigger than they did. While there are references to politics, math, Belle & Sebastian and all things collegian, at its core "Sound" is about getting over a relationship. Sigh.

5. Dreams Forever Drowning, "Entire Parts Never To Be Left" (Self-Released)
Everyone talks about how awesome Paramore is, but they probably have never heard the terribly named Dreams Forever Drowning, whose female fronted vocal assault has all the pop sheen of Paramore, but the brutality of Walls of Jericho for those breakdowns. Excelsior!