Review: Silverstein

Silverstein
“When Broken Is Easily Fixed”
(Victory Records)

Holy shit the singer’s voice sounds painful. It sound like one of those fucking dogs that got its voice box cut out so you can’t hear it bark except this guy can carry his notes without end. Then in true Victory fashion this screaming is backed up by a beautifully sung harmony vocals. These guys do have one little twist on the vocal beating by putting a digital effect on the harmony vocals. It sounds like the same kind of thing you hear on (for lack of better words) that one popularized Cher song or the one digital Madonna song of recent history (I don’t really follow that shit, so no song names for you, as if you really give a flying fuck).

The second song “Red Light Pledge” shows some real song writing craft with a slow breakdown with strings, but then there’s more ear numbing screaming. I really like the opening of “Give Up” because the bass line is on point with the drum beat, but then the track kind of falters by becoming nothing more than the average power-pop punk track. In fact, most of the songs that start out somberly are fairly good. The best song is the title track “When Broken Is Easily Fixed” a deeply poetic hardcore track about inner struggles. Don’t let this band get lost in a puddle of mud.