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A Static Lullaby

A Static Lullaby

Written by: PP on 11/10/2006 17:41:58

On the surface, A Static Lullaby's self-titled third album may seem a superb screamo album and certainly far better than their mediocre follow-up to their excellent debut "And Don't Forget To Breathe". The majority of the songs are perfectly produced and the powerful screamo-vocals come across just as loose as they should. Hell, some of the songs are flat-out amazing, "Annexation Of Puerto Rico" is a perfect mix of passionate screaming, clean vox, catchy hooks and addictive choruses, and "The Art Of Sharing Lovers" reminds us of the true meaning of quiet/loud dynamics with its balance and often combination of clean/screamed vocals layered on top of each other, with passages frighteningly similar to some of Finch's earlier work.

However, as we dig deeper, one major problem emerges as a recurring theme. It's not the simple riffing, because bands like Saosin have recently shown the great things a band can achieve with that. It's not the standard screams either nor the cliche coverart of the album. No. The problem is that this was all done in 2003 on an album you may have heard briefly mentioned: THE MOST INFLUENTAL SCREAMO RECORD OF ALL TIME, "They're Only Chasing Safety". If alarm bells still persist on silence inside your head (leading into me pondering why you are even reading this review), I can reveal the name of the band to be UnderOATH. A Static Lullaby seem to completely have ignored the logical evolution of the genre into something far more meaningful - kids these days are facing with sublime efforts like UnderOATH's "Define The Great Line" or Saosin's self-titled debut with inmeasurably more depth in them, and albums like this one just simply won't come across as meaningful anymore. Sure, one could argue that A Static Lullaby has evolved enormously from their debut, but what's questionable is the direction. On "And Don't Forget To Breathe" it wouldn't have been justifiable to compare them to UnderOATH aside from the obvious genre-match of the two. But on "A Static Lullaby" it does - this is simply "They're Only Chasing Chaos" re-recorded with different lyrics and with less ravishing screams, resulting into a distinctly average - at times even boring - release.

Download: Annexation Of Puerto Rico
For the fans of: UnderOATH, Senses Fail
Listen: Myspace

Release date 10.10.2006
Fearless