The Silent Years – Let Go

Artist: The Silent Years
Album: Let Go
Label: SideCho Records
Purchase: iTunes, Amazon, Amie Street  
Release Date: July 14th, 2009

Overall: 8.5
Music: 9.o
Lyrics: 8.0
Production: 8.0

Sometimes when we listen to music we learn to let go, let go of our previous conceptions of what we like and what we choose to listen to on a daily basis. In doing this can we evolve our musical standards and learn to listen to things all across the board. This leads us to The Silent Year’s newest EP, Let Go.

“Taking Drugs at the Amusement Park” is the first track to lead off Let Go, with a fuzzy bass intro and pounding drums this song might mean pure ecstasy for any indie lover, but as the song progresses it is learned that they are just as much about pop as they are indie (especially taking into consideration the “da-da-da”-like breakdown).

This brings us to the aforementioned point, that sometimes we need to let go of what we think a band should sound like. Sometimes it is hard to border indie and pop at the same time, because it is such a niche (indie) compared with the ability to access any kind of listener (pop). This is something that The Silent Years have done very well for themselves. Songs such as “Vampires Bite The Hands That Feed Them” is pure indie gold (horns and all), while “Madame Shocking” is a song that shows single potential with a rising string intro evolving into a fun drum beat with charming effects throughout.

Let Go is a wonderful taste of what the band is all about, that they can be just as good at being fun and catchy, while being instrumentally sound and ambient as your favorite indie band. In the end it is hard to resist the catchiness of songs like “TV>BJ”, or the six minute long finale “Claw Marks” with it’s spastic movement between sounds leaves the listener spellbound and wanting more after the last note fades away with the white noise.

A very tastefully constructed EP have made The Silent Years a band to keep paying attention to in the future as they polish their ability to create tunes that will not only appeal to everyone around them, but also allow them to retain artistic credibility in the most critical of circles. Above all else Let Go features fun, vibrant, sing-along songs that will have the entire audience singing along.