ActionActionFan
01/09/09, 04:16 PM
Goodnight Caulfield - The Masquerade
Record Label: None
Release Date: January 3, 2009
Emo-rock is a genre littered with way too many bands that sound exactly the same. A few years ago, it was a band's ticket to success, but today it is just another band jumping on a train that is way too full already. To be honest, I haven't even listened to a new emo-rock band in at least six months. However, as I was looking at the list of albums to review, Goodnight Caulfield caught my eye. I'll admit I'm a sucker for a good band name, especially when it is a reference to my favorite book. If I like the name of a band, I will give it a quick listen on myspace instead of just passing over it. This is how I came across Goodnight Caulfield and their brand new album entitled, The Masquerade.
The album starts off with "All You've Got," which kicks off with an instrumental section that is very similar to the beginning of Paramore's "Pressure." This parallel immediately concerned me; however, in a few seconds this resemblance disappeared. The song continues in a very catchy way with lyrics that are bound to be stuck in my head for quite sometime. The band makes its first mistake on the third track, "The Prowl." This fatal error is that the band starts off with electronic-sounding vocals like those of Rediscover or a million other bands. However, the song quickly changes its course and goes back to the band's specialty of emo-rock and catchy lyrics. A few tracks later comes "The Departed," which begins with a long instrumental introduction. It then turns to a repetitive shift between soft vocals and loud, more poppy vocals, which is a nice change from the other parts of the album. The best song on the CD, "Hearts," shows off the band's range of sound. It's a sad, slow song with only an acoustic guitar and piano as instrumentation for most of the song. However, in the last minute, an electric guitar is used to let the song end strongly and perfectly.
Goodnight Caulfield has released a very impressive album with The Masquerade. Don't get me wrong, the band definitely has not reinvented the wheel. However, the emo-rock that they do produce is way above average. In addition, I applaud the band for trying different things such as acoustic guitars, pianos, and short bursts of carnival-like music on one track and gang vocals on another. My only complaint is that the production is a little bit weak; however, this is to be expected with an unsigned band. In conclusion, this is not an album to be overlooked and I expect great things from Goodnight Caulfield in the future.
Hawthorne Height's The Silence in Black and White with no screams; emo rock
myspace.com/goodnightcaulfield (http://www.myspace.com/goodnightcaulfield)
Record Label: None
Release Date: January 3, 2009
Emo-rock is a genre littered with way too many bands that sound exactly the same. A few years ago, it was a band's ticket to success, but today it is just another band jumping on a train that is way too full already. To be honest, I haven't even listened to a new emo-rock band in at least six months. However, as I was looking at the list of albums to review, Goodnight Caulfield caught my eye. I'll admit I'm a sucker for a good band name, especially when it is a reference to my favorite book. If I like the name of a band, I will give it a quick listen on myspace instead of just passing over it. This is how I came across Goodnight Caulfield and their brand new album entitled, The Masquerade.
The album starts off with "All You've Got," which kicks off with an instrumental section that is very similar to the beginning of Paramore's "Pressure." This parallel immediately concerned me; however, in a few seconds this resemblance disappeared. The song continues in a very catchy way with lyrics that are bound to be stuck in my head for quite sometime. The band makes its first mistake on the third track, "The Prowl." This fatal error is that the band starts off with electronic-sounding vocals like those of Rediscover or a million other bands. However, the song quickly changes its course and goes back to the band's specialty of emo-rock and catchy lyrics. A few tracks later comes "The Departed," which begins with a long instrumental introduction. It then turns to a repetitive shift between soft vocals and loud, more poppy vocals, which is a nice change from the other parts of the album. The best song on the CD, "Hearts," shows off the band's range of sound. It's a sad, slow song with only an acoustic guitar and piano as instrumentation for most of the song. However, in the last minute, an electric guitar is used to let the song end strongly and perfectly.
Goodnight Caulfield has released a very impressive album with The Masquerade. Don't get me wrong, the band definitely has not reinvented the wheel. However, the emo-rock that they do produce is way above average. In addition, I applaud the band for trying different things such as acoustic guitars, pianos, and short bursts of carnival-like music on one track and gang vocals on another. My only complaint is that the production is a little bit weak; however, this is to be expected with an unsigned band. In conclusion, this is not an album to be overlooked and I expect great things from Goodnight Caulfield in the future.
Hawthorne Height's The Silence in Black and White with no screams; emo rock
myspace.com/goodnightcaulfield (http://www.myspace.com/goodnightcaulfield)