Silverstein
Arrivals & Departures

Often, major stylistic shifts involving bands in general lead to dissatisfaction among fans who no longer find the previous sounds that had garnered approval and attention. However, the opposite can also happen: namely, continuing the musical journey along previous general lines, with the same sonic ingredients that had made the previous album great, only to produce a disappointing work.

This is the case that fits "Arrivals & Departures," unfortunately.

Indeed, Silverstein hardly varies much from the first two albums, perhaps slightly more melodic in this latest one, but the result appears too predictable from the first listens.

The screamed parts that were previously used more extensively, see a reduction, albeit slight. But the real problem isn't this; rather it's the repetitiveness of the tracks that quickly becomes tedious.

The single "If You Could See Into My Soul", already insipid in itself (aside from the effected guitar intro), mirrors the platter.

The melodic pieces fare better compared to the faster ones. This is the case with the beautiful "Worlds Apart", which is one of the few to have a more interesting and varied song structure, moving from notable slowdowns to screams and more dynamic parts.

The closing ballad featuring delicate indie-flavored arpeggios, "True Romance", is also good—an experiment to be appreciated for its mood, even though the best melodies are found on "Discovering The Waterfront". Finally, noteworthy is the dry college-punk of "My Caution", which features a rhythmic chorus.

Finally, to note an attempt at soloing and the choirs on the decent "My Disaster", while the opener "Sound Of The Sun" doesn't reach total disgust but does show the real Achilles' heel of "Arrivals & Departures": refrains that are at times too sticky that remind me too closely of those of those clowns The Used. Practically always clean choruses that immediately stick in your head from a pop-punk band. So much so that there's a strong suspicion of being faced with some Green Day colleagues, with the only addition of occasional yelps.

In hindsight, if they had taken the few interesting episodes here and combined them with the greater aggressiveness of the tracks from the next LP, discarding the other songs, it might have been a different story by now.

In short: some good anthems, but not enough to reach full sufficiency, moreover, it was reasonable to expect more after the excellent response to the second album, and instead, this marks a half misstep.

Apathetic and predictable.