Thursday, September 21, 2006

Album Review - Sirens Sister

Artist – Sirens Sister
Album – Echoes from the Ocean Floor

I was quite upset when I had heard the news that one of my favorite bands, Vendetta Red, broke up. They were one of the few emo bands that went a different route (read: good) and their second major label record, Sisters of the Red Death, is a great record. Thankfully, we have Sirens Sister, which includes three members of Vendetta Red. Their debut Echoes from the Ocean Floor could be classified as the third Vendetta Red record, but Sirens Sister gets a little more experimental in its sound while maintaining Vendetta’s grunge riffs and dark lyrics.

The first single “Hold On” is just now getting some airplay, and it is a good tune, but the record has so much more to offer that it makes me wonder why they chose it as their first single. The songs seem like their more fun to listen to than Vendetta, even if their not quite as good. “Closer & Closer” would fit right in at a bar in New York, mixing their emo sound with a more upbeat tempo. It’s Jimmy Buffet as a 20 year old in today’s world. The real joy of the album is “So Long”, a song about being forgotten by that one you can’t forget. It pulls from the Beatles slower stuff with a piano line that you’re sure you have heard before even though you can’t place it. It drove me nuts until I realized I haven’t actually heard it before.

The record rounds out pretty good. With a lot of these emo bands releasing albums with only one or two tracks worth listening to, it’s nice to see one that has long term playability. Echoes… is not released on a major record label, so maybe we’ll see a re-issue with some other tracks, but for now its definitely worth your $10, if you can find it. I had to go to a local independent record store to find it, so forget Best Buy. But trust me, it’s worth the search.

7 out of 10
-B

If you like this record, try:

Vendetta Red – Sisters of the Red Death
Finch – What It Is To Burn
Matchbook Romance – Stories & Alibis

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've been looking for some additional emo bands to check out. Thanks for the article!

Indie Music Guy
Sling Slang Records
Independent Record Label