Labels: Adagio830
Review by: Oli Saunders
Sinaloa are without doubt one of the best emo bands of recent times. They are also a pretty rare breed in they have been a band for nine years now. Someone tell me a band of this style who have been together longer… there can’t be many. Over time they have developed a decent following, in relative terms anyway, and have released a lot of music. Three full lengths, numerous splits, and now a one sided 12” EP.
This record is a welcome release from the band, following Oceans And Islands that came out in 2008 and accompanied a UK tour. One thing about them I would say is that I tend to not be completely blown away by their songs in the same way that I am blown away by Sleepytime Trio and Life At These Speeds, for example, but they are pretty much always solid and enjoyable, and a few in particular get me going. It has been said many times but the band’s tendacy to write about subject matters that no one else writes about is amazing. Often little personal thoughts or experiences that you can really relate to and appreciate and are different from the typical subject matters in punk music.
Overall, this record really makes sense as a follow up to Oceans And Islands. The vocals are desperate as always, the two guitars play off one another well as they always do and you really don’t miss a bass guitar not being there. It’s less desperate than early output from the band, I would say more mature but that seems a bit of a cop out. If you haven’t checked out this band then in my opinion this is as good a record as any to start with. Sinaloa should be what kids stumble across via gigs, word of mouth, or the internet to get into proper active emo bands in this day and age.
1st May 2010