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Archive for November 18th, 2007
Streetlight Manifesto - Somewhere in the Between
Posted in Album Release, Celebs, Live Music, Music, Music Bands, Music People, Music Review, New Single, Records Deal, Rock, Song, Streetlight Manifesto on the November 18, 2007
Although Somewhere in the Between is the third full-length release by Streetlight Manifesto, longtime fans are more likely to view it as the band’s sophomore effort. 2006’s Keasbey Nights was, for all intents and purposes, a refurbished replica of the Catch-22 album by the same name, complete with the same vocalist and few (if any) musical changes. This makes Somewhere in the Between the band’s first effort of all-original material in nearly five years, and Streetlight Manifesto is no longer the fresh-faced group that once rose from Catch-22’s ska/punk ashes. They’ve spent a half-decade on the road, touring with ska stalwarts like Reel Big Fish while weathering lineup changes and several robberies of their equipment-filled van. Losing treasured bandmates and expensive instruments would dampen anyone’s spirits, and Streetlight Manifesto does sound a bit less reckless here, but not at the expense of the group’s peppy ska/punk appeal. The rasp is still there, but so is a focused tone that we haven’t heard before, particularly during the subdued intro to “Down, Down, Down to Mephisto’s Café.” Despite his improved vocals, Kalnoky remains the most punked-out member of the band, whose other members play their horn lines and guitar chords with crisp, bright precision. It’s this balanced relationship — clear orchestration and jaunty tempos paired with rasped melodies about the macabre (”Would You Be Impressed”), war (”Watch It Crash”), and sin (”Forty Days”) — that ultimately governs the album, and even if Somewhere in the Between can’t match the raucous nature of the band’s debut, it’s nevertheless a catchy follow-up.