Review Summary: Small Leaks Sink Ships is a band from Arizona that you probably have not heard of, but they are going to fit into your collection.
At my college radio station I was putting away some albums into our catalog system and a lot of the albums have relativity small reviews that the distributors stick on the front. One album caught my eye basically just from the RIYL (Recommended if you like...) with bands like Minus the Bear and Mars Volta. I glanced through the review and liked what I read enough to listen. I am so glad I did.
Small Leaks Sink Ships is a band from Arizona that you probably have not heard of, but they are going to fit into your collection. Genre wise they fit into an indie progressive rock, but they are unique. They really add something to it that bands that have the spotlight don't bring. Very dynamic changes within songs and on a track to track basis. Kicking off the album is
The Flood which really defines who they are. It starts off with a beautiful guitar piece and in comes the drum part. One thing I really like about this band and this song in particular is the drums. They are not just getting the job done but they almost steal the spot light. The drumming is similar to that of Rx Bandits. Different and spectacular. The vocals are very passionate and well placed. He holds his own. Other songs the vocals may be questioned with how experienced the lead singer is. Towards the end of the first track the piano takes the part of the guitar and finishes the song off.
The second song has vocals similar to that of At the Drive-In; sporadic and sometimes a bit screamy, but just like At the Drive-In it shows more strength than weakness. Sometimes they show influences of some mainstream rock with choruses. Other times I have no idea where they are getting their influence from.
Dear Dictator has a chorus that doesn't really compare with anything. It is a piano lead, almost sing along, chorus with a lot of heart. The rest of the song fits with everything else they are doing on the chorus. It has the quick guitar riffs and following their dynamic progression they quickly return into the abstract chorus and then quickly back into a very progressive stop and go jam and into a straight on guitar shred.
Other highlights include
Sackcloth In Ashes, which has a more pop like chorus and the vocals are more under control. A more artsy track is
Sick On Substance. It is produced a lot different. The vocals have some delay and effects added; actually all the instruments are tweaked to have a more electronic sound. A lot of instrumental parts in the song and the vocals are outstanding when they are there.
If you want negatives for this album there are not many. The members have been working together for a while but not making music like this. The band itself is very young especially at release. Considering all that, I don't know what to criticize. The vocals at times has some improvement to be made, but they arnt bad. Improvement can be had overall but as far as specifics it will really depend on your taste.
Try this! Do it for yourself.
Recommended Tracks:
The Flood
Sick On Substance
Truth Of Transition
