Around three years ago now I wrote my first and only CD review. Most of my readers were impressed with my first go and I had plans to do more in the future and just...never got round to it. Mainly because I know very little about music construction and as far as I know there isn't a Music Studies that does things in the same vein as a Film Studies, so my reviews can only be superficial and be the response from an Average Joe listener. But this is basically my second attempt at the world of music reviewing done because of the suggestion of a close friend, enjoy!
Now I listen to a lot of music but that is really as far as my interest goes. With movies I follow actors, directors, theories but if it wasn't for things like Tumblr I'd have no idea what half the bands I listen too even look like. I have a firm stance of not giving a fucking about an entertainers personal life, because I just find people who do a little sad. And being that I'm a casual listener of Sleeping with Sirens at best, my knowledge of them is somewhat limited. But as they aren't all that popular here in the UK here goes.
Sleeping With Sirens are one of those whiny emobands that everyone loves to hate and fourteen year old's love to listen to while writing blog posts about how they are going to 'kill themselves' and other such statements for attention. To say I've grown out of this music would be an understatement, however a close friend of mine became obsessed with the band overnight and I dedicated myself to seeing what all the fuss was about and after repeated listens to Let's Cheers to This I eventually softened to lead vocalist Kellin Quinn's 'cat on the ceiling fan' vocals. Although upon first listen it's hard to separate Sleeping with Sirens out from the crowd of other bands with the 'same' sound the more you listen the more you realise the range and depth that SWS have over other bands in the same scene. And that really is where my knowledge ends.
Then in comes 'If You Were a Movie, This Would be Your Soundtrack' - there really isn't a lot out of there about this on the net, other than fansites and sites dedicated to this kind of music and all they want to do is sell you a record. But what I can gather from actual non biased sources is this is five tracks that is for some reason branded as a soundtrack, with each song started with 'Scene' and all five songs are acoustic. Three are versions of their older songs and two are brand new. And to be fair to the album, most of these songs would probably fit right in with those Teenage High School Drama TV shows, I mean shows like Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf already use this kind of music - so I guess this is a soundtrack for the future.
'Scene One - James Dean & Audrey Hepburn' is easily the best song on the entire EP. It puts full use to Quinn's vocal range, the production is clean and high quality and the lyrics are beautiful. And when the opening song is of this high level of quality the rest of the EP comes across a little flat, Quinn seems to actively put 90% of his effort into this song to make the opening as huge as possible so he can put as little effort into the rest of the EP. Which is pretty shitty when it's shorter than half an hour. It isn't just effort that feels greater here, but investment. The way Quinn's voice warbles the chorus is heartbreaking for me, I can really picture him singing it to someone he loves very deeply and he sounds moments away from breaking down. I believe it. I found this believability oddly lacking in the rest of the EP. If I was going to have any complaints about this track, I'd probably complain about the structure. Although the lyrics are nice, there is so much repetition that it feels almost like a pop song.
My interpretation of the song is it is a very generic story of falling in love, the protagonist of the song comes across as a little needy but I know how it feels to put your heart on the plate and get barely an emotion in return and I really feel that in Quinn's delivery. That desperation, to be heard, to understand, to feel. Saddly though as the song moves along it starts to move onto that generic teen shit like inadequacy but I could still relate, most of the women I have dated have been extremely popular with the male kind and I am...less than popular with the female kind. And it's hard to understand why they'd date the chubby nerd that I am, when the guy all the other girls want is begging for their hand. In the end it's a beautiful, relatable track and Quinn delivers it as if he is singing it to the girl of his dreams who is in the same room.
'Scene Two -'Roger Rabbit' is easily the weakest song on the entire album. Following a gorgeous, acoustic anthem with what sounds like a rejected song off an Ed Sheeran album is just really bad planning. On its own there is nothing fundamentally wrong with Roger Rabbit, it is probably the most unique song on the album with the funky, white rapper feel that it has for the first half of the track and general upbeat nature which is missing for most of the EP. But coming into this right after that masterpiece that is James Dean & Audrey Hepburn is like driving full speed into a brickwall. It's a shame, because if this song was placed further down in the tracklist I would have probably enjoyed it more because it would have stood out, rather than screaming to get noticed in the smoke after the explosion of James Dean & Audrey Hepburn. The final three songs all seem to bleed together too with their generic acoustic sappiness, if this song was mixed between them the uniqueness would have made the song stand out amongst the crowd with its upbeat feel and would have also helped break down the final three acoustic numbers to make them sound less like one long whinge. As it stands Roger Rabbit is just out of place.
When I actually concentrated on Roger Rabbit's lyrics I found myself utterly confused, the upbeat RNB love song sound seems to directly contradict with the lyrics. With the way I interpreted the lyrics, it sounds like a person criticising themselves. Laying out their flaws and facing them. These lyrics will definitely appeal to the fourteen year old self loathing types that will be lapping this up. They'll probably use quite a few lines of this for their statuses. But personally I just wanted to slap the protagonist and tell them to get over themselves.
'Scene Three - Stomach Tied in Knots' is a much more generic acoustic number, it does a decent attempt to utilise Quinn's range but he seems to be putting nowhere near as much effort into this track as he does in James Dean & Audrey Hepburn and overall it just ends up all feeling a little muted. I mean the lyrics are nice, it's well produced and so on and so forth but it just ends up feeling like a bit of a rubbish version of James Dean & Audrey Hepburn. And in the end that is probably the biggest problem with the final three tracks. James Dean & Audrey Hepburn is the EP opening with a bang, Roger Rabbit is the wtf are you doing here? But then the last Three Scenes are just 'acoustic tracks'. I just so wish Roger Rabbit was Scene Four, just to break the songs down better and to allow you to enjoy the songs more on their individual merits.
Lyrically Stomach Tied in Knots is a song I can really relate too. No one likes hearing the words 'We need to talk' whether it be from your boss, parents or significant other. And this song really captures that feeling as your stomach drops through your feet as you think up every ridiculous thing they could have to say. As you pour through your past to find out where you fucked up. It eventually moves into breakup territory and more self loathing. I can certainly relate to this better than Roger Rabbit but this is still more for the self loathing teens than it is for me. See what I mean about growing out of this music?
'Scene Four - Don't You Ever Forget About Me'. Although this track seems to make much more sense being here than Roger Rabbit does it still sounds like a rejected Making April song. I guess at least we got the genre right this time. In the end becomes the most generic and so in turn the least interesting and most forgettable track on the album. This is emowhinycore at its most emo and whiny. And when you've just gone from one generic acoustic track right into an even more generic acoustic song, the two tracks just blend together. About the only thing that makes this one stand out, is that Quinn feels like he's putting in even less effort than before.
Don't You Ever Forget About Me lyrically is a proper break up song. About how sometimes walking away is the best and worst thing you can do all at the same time. Sometimes relationships just don't work, no matter how much you love someone. However the protagonist starts fairly noble, claiming he will walk away if it's for the best, no matter how much it hurts. But then goes on to say he hopes the pain keeps you awake at night, that it haunts you. Telling his/her ex that she/her isn't allowed to move on. Then begging to be taken back. And I lost all respect for him/her. If they kept it around the topic of walking away, because it's for the best even if it hurts I would have enjoyed the lyrics more but the lyrics ruin themselves.
'Scene Five - With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear'. Scene Five is an excellent closer to the album, Quinn feels like he's got his energy back and the music mirrors this, it's less clingy clangy depressed acoustics and instead it has an actual beat and pace, incorporating the Ed Sheeran elements of Roger Rabbit with the sound of the rest of the EP for excellent results.
Sadly for all the improvement in production and general sound and feel, it is lyrically just more yawn worthy emo pandering. Quinn certainly feels a lot more convincing on this track than he has for the last three 'scenes' but I found it very hard to care for the lyrics. I've grown up from the whole 'You aren't my friend any more!' crap. Holding grudges because of idealistic expectations of friends just isn't something a grown man does, not a sane mature one anyway.
So do I recommend this? If You Were a Movie is its own worst enemy. Tracks 2 - 5 are all perfectly enjoyable, passable tracks, With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear even ascends to the 'pretty great' territory if it wasn't for those awful, attention seeking lyrics. But starting your EP with a huge epic number like James Dean & Audrey Hepburn is just a terrible, terrible move. Roger Rabbit is out of place and its uniqueness isn't used to its full potential, it could have been the perfect way to give yourself a break from the sappy emocoustics that the last three tracks subject you too but instead they just throw it in there to be the encore to the best track on the album and it fails miserably. Tracks three and four, Stomach Tied in Knots and Don't You Ever Forget About Me are both okay but lack all that energy and emotional investment that tracks James Dean and Audrey Hepburn (and to a lesser extent With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear) have. And so in the end If You Were a Movie is simply okay. It has moments of true greatness, but its lack of consistency and poor use of its own tools stops it actually reaching true greatness.
Think About It!
-Locke.
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