Replay 1 (2/5/08)

by Seth Hover • 02/05/2008 at 01:07 AM

There’s a chance you hate the bands on this list.
Why?
Well, this week I’ve decided to cover some screamo bands.
Why?
Isn’t screamo what those annoying kids that shop at Hot Topic listen to? Don’t all the singers sound like they’re whining?

Well, yeah. But these bands are really good. Just try and get past the vocals, for the most part.

Song: Sleepers
Band: Saosin
Album: Saosin, Capitol Records, 2006
I’m more a fan of Saosin’s original line-up (with Anthony Green on vocals and Pat McGrath as the studio drummer), but their eponymous full-length is solid musically. The singles from Saosin all blew me away; Sleepers is a a great burst of guitar-driven energy with great percussive variation.

Song: Bye Bye Blues (The Whole West Coast Is Ruined)
Band: Drop Dead, Gorgeous
Album: Worse Than A Fairy Tale, Rise/Suretone, 2007
It seems like screamo bands either: don’t have keyboard players, or they have terrible keyboard players. Drop Dead, Gorgeous is neither. Their key section is provided mostly by dark piano sounds, which accents the slightly off-beat horror movie-type quality that many of their songs have. I’m a fan of this song in particular because of the dynamics; it starts with a great sparse sound and moves into wave after wave of different loud, dissonant parts.

Song: The Circus That Has Brought Us Back To These Nights (Yo Chocola!)
Band: The Fall Of Troy
Album: The Fall Of Troy, Lujo Records, 2003
Taking cues from fellow-Pacific-Northwesterners The Blood Brothers, TFOT has a very math-influenced style, combined with a wide range of vocals and guitar dynamics. Filled with odd time signatures and abrupt changes, “The Circus...” is a polished noise experiment from start to finish. Not bad considering the members of the band were 17 when this was recorded.

Song: The Girl Who Was Born Without A Face
Band: Schoolyard Heroes
Album: Fantastic Wounds, The Control Group, 2005
Another Washington band, Schoolyard Heroes add a heaping dose of horror-movie cliche to the mix. Their sophomore album is much more polished than The Funeral Sciences, from Ryann Donnelly’s increased vocal range to the time signatures and innovative guitar techniques. The best part, though, is the last four seconds: an amazing choppy cap at the end of the darkest song on this list.

Song: Line & Sinker
Band: Billy Talent
Album: Billy Talent, Atlantic, 2003
Billy Talent is definitely poppier than the other bands here, but the energy they produce takes them past pop-punk into a power-punk sound combined with screamo vocals. Both melodic and high-pitched singing are met with frantic screaming during the choruses, and the loud, sparkly guitar transforms into a crunchy powerhouse and back again throughout.