Emotionalpunk.com
Media Review
Music Quality: 6.5
Production: 7.5
Originality: 7.5
Tracklisting
2. Rested Eyes Tell No Lies
3. What I Did On My Summer Vacation
4. Miss You
5. Life's Black Ice
6. King Midas' Desert
7. Bury Me In The Lovers Graveyard
8. Tarantula Perfume
9. Funeral Moon
10. Give Me Your Gold
11. Speak Of The Devil
12. Friends 'Til The Weekend
13. Dateless For Armageddon
Close your eyes (come on humor me)… imagine an empty street. There is a thick fog about a foot deep. As you slowly take paces the smoke-like mist swirls and shifts around your hips and torso. The night air is dense and is sending chills down your spine. Your instincts are twitching and beginning to panic. The silence is deafening and adding to your uneasiness. Few groups would be able to provide the perfect soundtrack for this type of late night stroll, that is unless you are Chicago’s horror-pop sounding 2*Sweet. The band’s debut full length album “Sleep Without Dreams” is the ideal companion for eerie evenings, graveyard exploration, darkened junkyard treasure hunts or abandon carnival hide-n-seek.
Some quick things I feel compelled to mention:
The hype? The band was named Alternative Press Magazine's #1 Unsigned Band of 2007.
The name? Is ridiculous, but I give props to people who do not take themselves 2*Seriously.
The sound?....
2*Sweet’s lead singer Justin Pence delivers wailing vocals comparable to horror flicks’ undead. The sometimes over-the-top theatrical sound takes some getting used to and upon first listen, may be incredibly unappealing. The music accompanying Pence’s unique vocals is fast, spastic and sinister. At times, the dramatic sound of the band struggles to be heard competing with Pence’s vocal force.
What the album lacks is diversity. Many of the tracks take on the same epic gritty guitars and doom drums routine. The band’s dark and dismal lyrics also begin to lack substance and impact by the album’s end.
In closing, I will say this for 2*Sweet, the group is comprised of very hardworking and incredibly dead-icated gentleman who put out this album on their own label. A group with that kind of commitment could definitely have staying power. While lacking dreams, 2*Sweet should still sleep soundly with this intriguing release.
Déjà vu who? - My Chemical Romance, The Living End, Alkaline Trio
Sugary serenades – “Funeral Moon”, “Rested Eyes Tell No Lies”, “What I Did On My Summer Vacation”