SILVERSTEIN - When Broken Is Easily Fixed

10 songs
38:31 minutes
***** ****
Victory

Bandpage

Apparently emo is the new big thing, and I have to admit that most releases in that genre are fairly acceptable. But only once in a while you are in the presence of true genius, and that's when you listen to Silverstein.

They borrowed their name from the deceased children's author and scary looking Playboy contributor Shel Silverstein, an author I haven't come across yet unfortunately, but if you can believe the Internet, he was in the seditious spirit of Roald Dahl who also wrote exquisite children's and adult literature.

But back to Silverstein, the band. They come from Canada, or more precisely Southern Ontario, where another great band, Grade, was rather successful in the past. That's why it's no big surprise to hear Grade's Kyle Bishop doing additional vocals on the title track which is closing the album.

Apart from that, Silverstein rely of course on their own qualities, and they are not small. Emo meets screamo, would be a short definition of their sound, but unlike many screamo bands that use melodic parts to mellow down their music a bit, you have the inverse here: Silverstein are actually most of the time a very melodic band with great memorable tunes, but their vocalist Shane Told has the wonderful talent of having something like a musical split personality: while performing his most charming vocals that would have teenage girls and their mothers melting alike, he can just as well switch into his angry screamo evil twin that adds a psychotic dimension to the music.

Highlights are the fierce opener Smashed Into Pieces and the melodic Last Days Of Summer, but also Wish I Could Forget You is quite nice, with an unexpected touch of violence and violins.

Also fantastic is the cover artwork which is a very melancholic oil painting. That's the moments where I start missing the good old vinyl times that gave you a much bigger rendition of the art. Still, this is great stuff, and if you are into emo, you can't miss this album. 9 points.