CD Reviews

The highlight of the album is clearly the performance by the musicians, with some of the most accomplished acoustic guitar work I've heard on a local recording, underpinned by cello and piano performances of equal magnitude.

The most impressive thing for me being the way the two guitarists, Scott Guilbert and Matt Sharp, made there two instruments sound like 4 playing at once, something I always consider to be the sign of a truly talented guitarist.

Vocalist Phil Stevens

The inclusion of Seb Grand's cello on some tracks added a certain something extra to the sound that at no point overtook the music to become a gimmick of having a traditionally 'classical' instrument in a more 'pop' piece. Used in this way it added an atmosphere to the record that helped it match Josh Fletcher's photographic art on the CD cover and in all gave the recording a sound of twilight and dusk as well as deep textured centre.

Phil Steven's vocals, while not as technically accomplished as the guitar, cello and piano parts (though it seems to me this could improve with experience and confidence), added the elements of emo and punk to the mix creating an interesting hybrid sound in the style of performers such as Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly or, in a slightly different way Plan B.

This mix of elements lead to a sound, especially in 'The Prodigal Song', that conveyed a feeling felt, I believe, by many young people in today’s world, that of feeling like we don't know where we are heading and that we have been worn down by expectation of success and even the bands name hints at this notion of a fatigued state of mind amongst today's adolescents.

By the end of the record I could see the bands sound developing to a stage that they could in future head in a direction similar to bands such as Coheed and Cambria with a kind of prog-punk sound underpinned by the bands clear classical tendencies.

The last thing I feel needs commenting on is the records production. Produced by one of the bands guitarists, Scott Guilbert, it has the sound of a DIY record which adds to the punk vibe, while at no point sounding unprofessional and in fact adds to the style of the record through the moments of 'rough and readiness' and presents a sense of life in the recording that many professional recordings of recent years lack.