Sleeping With Sirens – With Ears To See, And Eyes To Hear

Sleeping With Sirens
With Ears To See, And Eyes To Hear
Rise Records

March 23rd, 2010

The first song I heard from this band was their single “If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn”. It instantly became one of my favorite songs to listen to. Now that the album has been released, I have to say, it is still a strong favorite for me. Definitely a good choice for a single, with strong lyrics, great singing and screams that, although exceptional on their own, accent and emphasize the  words being sung when put together. The screams are epic as hell, which surprised me at first when I realized, per their music video, that the petite singer also does the screams.
Just when I get disappointed that my favorite song has ended I hear the revitalizing sound of the 2nd track on the album, “The Bomb Dot Com V2.0”. I absolutely love this song. The intro pulls me in, and the catchy hook keeps me coming back every time. This song is a perfect example of the diversity of sound that this band can pull off oh-so-smoothly. Very heavy intro that just makes you want to “pick up change” every time you hear it, and then the classic post-hardcore sounding chorus that you won’t get sick of and a bit of a breakdown as well towards the end.
The next track “You Kill Me (In A Good Way)”, is definitely going to impress. It is a good example of the singer’s vocal capabilities.
“Let Love Bleed Red”, I have to say, at first a little bit disappointing for the simple fact that I just wasn’t ready for a slow song like this. But if you’re like me, and you give it some time, you’ll find that this song is just as good in its own way. It’s a slower, acoustic/piano song for most of it then it really picks up at the end with the full band assembly.
The next track is a dose of the heavier side of Sleeping With Sirens, called “Captain Tyin Knots Vs Mr Walkway (No Way). It starts with the sound of a door opening, then closing, then it’s just BOOM with the heavy music. It just kicks right in really hard and heavy. Lots of screaming in this track. For the last half of the song there’s some synthy vocals, and they finish the song off with an awesome breakdown. Heavy, lot’s of screaming – Nice.
The next song is “Don’t Fall Asleep At The Helm”. Another slower song, but one of my favorite. It’s more of a synth based track. The music i’m pretty sure is all synthed sounds, with a little bit of synthed voice. It’s a soft/slow song, but the strange nature of the music on this song is actually pretty suspenseful. Almost an unsettling kind of calmness. They did very good on this track.
The title track is up next. It’s one of the heavier songs. It’s not my favorite but still a good song. “LIEEE! Liar you’ll pay for your siiinnnns!!!” Good screaming. Great chorus.
The next to last song “In Case Of Emergency, Dial 411” is another favorite. It’s just a good song, period. Nothing really “note-worthy” about it. Great structure, catchy choruses nice bridge, singing, screaming. Good song.
The song “The Left Side Of Everywhere” is an inspirational track to me. In my interpretation of the song, it’s about the struggles of life and how hard they can be to get through, and then being in the position they are in as a new band with “the world in front of them”  and how they won’t take advantage or let the opportunity slip through their fingers. Kind of a “we made it, boys” song. The song finishes with a nice piano outro to finish off the album nicely.

All in all, this album is amazing. It is definitely my favorite album to be released this year. It’s a little disappointing that there’s only nine songs on the album, because it does end all to soon. But every song on the album is great. The album in itself is very diverse in the sense that it shows all of the extremes of a post-hardcore band. From heavy breakdowns to slow interludes, hard rocking screamo to soft piano melodies, great vocals work and great music. Sleeping With Sirens has it, and they’ve done it well. Pick up this album, you will not be disappointed. If you’re not convinced after this review, check out their MySpace to hear a few songs, or check out their music video on YouTube.
Now, go get it!

“Now that we have the world in front of us,
We’re never turning back.
How could we ever not believe?
Now that I have the world in front of me,
I’m never turning back.
How could I ever let this go?”

- “The Left Side Of Everywhere” Sleeping With Sirens
Review written by: Josh B