Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
After The Sirens
What I Have To Give, Let It Be Enough (CD)
Music Quality: 8.0
Production: 8.0
Originality: 9.0
Tracklisting
2. We Buy Jewelry when the Love Burns Out
3. The Song that Holds Us Still
4. Oh, For Eyes of Glass
5. Curare on Your Lips
6. Prayers as Donations
7. Instead of Beauty, Branding
8. Judah
9. Sieves and Seizures
10. The Lights at Nero's Party
11. A Waning
Boston based After the Sirens’ latest effort, What I Have to Give, Let it Be Enough conjures a litany of emotion, collective backgrounds and disparate stylings which meld to make a cohesive, structurally diverse and emotionally charged full length. An album rich in dynamic genres, piloted by intensely original and fervent lyrics, After the Sirens offer a comprehensive work aimed at questioning rather than accepting. I’ll say off the bat, not many bands can pull off dance-rock/post-hardcore/emo-leanings/mixed with a steady undercurrent of Christian-rock (with some other – rocks I may be leaving out) without seeming just a bit contrite. These boys do it well and more importantly seamlessly as What I Have to Give, Let it Be Enough is inquisitive, intelligent and daring.
When a band finds that sonic formula that speaks to each member and moreover, the collective ‘good,’ they tend to run with it and don’t stray too far for fear of alienation or lack of progression. When I listened to the first two tracks, “White Noise with Grace Notes” and “We Buy Jewelry when the Love Runs Out” I surmised that the record would follow the same alt-rock pattern with solid, yet formulaic vocals and complimenting and weaving hooky guitars we’ve heard before. It was the third track, “The Song that Holds Us Still” that grabbed me vocally, as the listener delves into a world deeper than superficial relationships and the shallow plight of everyday concerns that saturate so many songs today. The poetic and imagery devices vocalist Ryan Heidorn utilizes throughout the record are a beautiful canvas of explorations of self/ God and the vices and accepted ‘truths’ of the human condition. “I’ll stick my hand in the court of injustice/with five bucks for some AIDS orphans I’ve never met/or for median-vendor veterans.”
The strengths of this album lie in the unexpected. In addition to the caliber of profound lyrics, the songs transition from the ethereal to the aggressive; namely “Curare on Your Lips” segueing from serene synth to driving double bass and anthemic, bruising choruses. The tricky progressions are executed cleanly and passionately which disappear as quickly as they had emerged, with the calm acoustic musings of “Instead of Beauty, Branding,” an intertwining dual vocal ballad emerging next. “Sieves and Seizures” opens with powerful, syncopated chords opening into a wrenching tale of regret with a silver lining of hope. Similarly “The Lights at Nero’s Party” sweep in with dual punching guitars that have some of the most notable runs here on the album, as well the vocals live up to the post hardcore tag (told you there’s something for everybody)
Small Boston Indie label, Blue Duck Records has scored great potential with this record, only their third release as a rising upstart label. Listeners who prefer solidified signature sounds, may have a tough listen first go-around. Read the lyrics, check out the amazing art work and challenge whatever preconceived notions of Christian rock/post-hardcore/synth-rock/melodic rock/whatever moniker you want to pin; strip labels and just enjoy music that questions ideals, reaffirms faith, explores new sonic avenues and rocks in the name of, well that’s up to you to decide. “How vaguely we eschew complicity with You.”