Armor for Sleep "What to Do When You Are Dead" CD
[Equal Vision]
I've been following this band to a lesser degree for a few years now. I heard some of their demo mp3's way back when and was really into 'em, but I never actually picked up their debut full-length until last summer, as I had forgotten about them in the meantime. But I was into that disc as well, and they follow suit on this one with 11 tracks of moody emo that's in more of the tried and true style with just the right blend of catchiness and melody with faint heaviness, clean guitars and laidback atmospheres, and excellent singing vocals with tons of smooth harmonies. It's a little more straightforward and contemporary (in a pop/rock kind of way) than, say, the more accessible side of the genre 10 years ago, but I feel that this stuff has far more in common with those days than it does with most of the genre's current darlings. Why? Because they balance the simplistic song structures and catchy choruses with lots of layered riffing and dynamics - take for example the awesome "Remember to Feel Real", which gets a little more intricate and lightly metallic while also allowing the rhythm section more breathing room during the verse parts. There's just a lot of overall energy to this work. "Car Underwater" opens the disc straight off with one of the most memorable tracks, "Awkward Last Words" brings in lush bass and clean guitars with unexpected quick stops before breaking out into a more rocked out chord progression, "The More You Talk the Less I Hear" has another slightly heavier set of riffs with some pull-offs and chunky chords but also contrasts that with some clean guitars and sparse synths, "Walking at Night, Alone" opens with an excellent acoustic riff that's quite creative and atypical in how it winds around, "I Have Been Right All Along" brings back some overt catchiness, and closer "The End of a Fraud" is the most dynamic piece - revisiting keyboards and basing itself around clean guitars and more subdued singing, but also throwing in some hard hitting rhythms and intense screaming that you don't really find elsewhere on the disc (And what's up with that R&B sounding backup singing at the end!?). Of course the recording is fucking great, which is a relief since a mildly inadequate sound can really harm these bands a lot. But this thing is crisp and clear with a really good sense of rounded low-end, and the mix is perfectly balanced so the vocals don't dominate and nothing comes off as thin or out of place. The layout looks ridiculously awesome with tons of crisp photography and insane color saturation. The lyrics are spread out in large text and carry through a concept revolving around a deceased person's afterlife experiences and their attempts to communicate with their lost love. A lot of the stuff gets pretty fuckin' depressing, too. "I came down here to tell you it rains in heaven all day long. I wanna find you so bad and let you know I'm miserable up here without you. Don't believe that it's better when you leave everything behind. Don't believe that the weather is perfect the day that you die." Also included is a small tract with illustrations and instructions on proper afterlife behavior, such as "Do not revel in regret." or "Do not hold onto memories of life. They will be distorted and inaccurate." I really fucking like this band. They're just god damn excellent songwriters and thus far they've yet to hit a wall, so they're among my favorites out there in this style, and I truly have high hopes for 'em. Seriously, this band ought to be on the road to getting huge... I've listened to this disc a million times and counting. Awesome, awesome stuff. (9/10)
Running time - 42:58, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Car Underwater, The Truth About Heaven, Remember to Feel Real, Stay on the Ground, I Have Been Right All Along, and plenty more...]
Equal Vision Records - http://www.equalvision.com

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