Man, Silverstein is really cranking out the music! It feels like no time at all has passed since they released A Beautiful Place to Drown, but alas, it has been two years. Thus, we fans have been treated to Misery Made Me, released a couple of months ago now.
As many songs as I like from this band, this is one of the few albums of their eleven(!) offerings that I’ve actually listened to front to back. That makes me kind of sad, so that means I need to go back and really listen to them all someday in the near future. With that being said, I’m really glad I listened to Misery Made Me front to back. This was a really cohesive sounding record, and it also really went together lyrically. One would have to assume that both the election and the pandemic played into the general theme of the album: giving up. This world doesn’t really seem like it has a lot to offer right now, so I’m right there with them.
This record was much heavier than I was anticipating, so anyone wanting some Shane Told signature screams should give this record a spin. It starts off in your face with “Our Song” and “Die Alone,” before it takes a step back and actually lets Told sing. It’s a good tactic that kept the album more dynamic than it could have been without those ebbs and flows. I was a fan of the single, “Ultraviolet,” but “Bankrupt” is an absolute banger. That will definitely be played on repeat from here on out. As far as the ebbs and flows between songs go, they went a step further and included both the extreme and softer sides in the song, “The Alter/Mary.” I liked that juxstaposition.
Perhaps the only song that didn’t quite mesh well with the others was the closing track, “Misery.” It totally took its own route by relying on the acoustic guitar a bit, much slower vocals, and then what almost sounded like an untouched studio recording in one section. That was neat, and the song is still good, but I just struggled to figure out where it fit in with the rest of the album instrumentally. Clearly, part of the album title is in the song name and it lyrically made sense. Just felt like an odd choice to me. Aside from that, the only other thing that was strange was Told’s singing in a couple songs. I looked to see if they were featuring other singers because they sounded almost nothing like him. Who knows, maybe he’s always had that range and I just never noticed.
Overall though, a very strong offering from Silverstein, and I look forward to these guys still cranking out new music for years to come!