Tawny Peaks

In Silver River

Written by: PP on 11/12/2014 23:23:51

The sophomore album "In Silver River" by revivalist emo band Tawny Peaks is quite a departure from their self-titled debut album from two years ago. Back then, the band was still firmly rooted in Mineral and Braid worship, but at least made an effort to stray away from other, primarily Count Your Lucky Stars bands by injecting a healthy amount of complex instrumentation that drew its inspiration from math rock. In comparison, "In Silver River" feels like a regression into the gray mass of identical sounding bands, all rehashing the 90s emo scene in the most I don't even care about anything way possible. In other words, quite nondescript and unassuming melodies that you really have to work for before they open up, if they do at all.

In this case, I'm leaning much more toward the latter part. Despite having spent quality time with "In Silver River" the songs just sound so similar to everyone else playing the revivalist emo genre without being, simply put, better songs than the average to make a difference. Somber, quiet vocals, even more chilled out and softly delivered guitars, and yes, even fragile and shy female vocals contrasting every now and then. Textbook stuff from the 90s revivalist emo genre, basically. Where the self-titled debut album was at times loud and fast-paced, allowing the technical guitars to flourish and add detail to soundscape, here they are mostly quiet and sleepy to the extent that they'll actually put you to sleep.

It's a shame that Tawny Peaks' sophomore album feels so flat and uninspiring in comparison to their much more lively debut. It had otherwise suggested that these guys are one of the most intriguing bands to follow in this genre, but this album just doesn't live up to those expectations. A prime example is "Righting The Writ", a song that's almost five minutes long without really going anywhere at all in the process. It's slow, stubbornly introspective and attempting to be thoughtful, without succeeding in either. Yawn.

Download: Go Ask Arthur, Wasting Space
For the fans of: Dowsing, Everyone Everywhere, Braid, Mineral, History's History,
Listen: Facebook

Release date 17.05.2014
Soft Speak Records

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