Review: Saosin - Self-Titled EP

artist: saosin album: self-titled (ep) label: the mission family released: 6/17/03 by: eduardo moutinho I’m somewhat astonished that I never took the time out to review this EP. For the record, I’ll call myself out; my bad. Anyway, for those of you who don’t know about Saosin (say-ocean), you’re in for a treat when you listen to Translating the Name. It’s an older release, but it is definitely noteworthy. Also, it’s the band’s current release. That’s no joke… Saosin is kind of difficult to characterize. While initial impressions would probably make one think of the band as well-wrapped, manufactured, sugar candy pop rock, that’s just not the case. This is well-crafted, aggressive emocore. Saosin is all about energy and tight musicianship. The music is good, really good. What gives the music its wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing sound is the singing. The vocals are extremely high-pitched, almost whiny. Think of a less polished Claudio from Coheed. In fact, the singer that recorded this EP is now the front man of Circa Survive, a solid up-and-coming band. Anyway, the singing gives the music a poppy edge to it, but, like Coheed, the instruments save the music from matching the crap being played by soulless, MTV-aspiring clones. The guitars and drums are fantastic. Honestly, the drummer on this EP is one of the best I’ve ever heard. His fills are incredibly technical, and the drumming itself sounds crisp. I was actually able to hear two versions of a demo of one of Saosin’s songs, one with the EP's drummer and one with an older guy. Seriously, the difference was incredible; the music hits another level with the EP's crazy fill maestro. Unfortunately, I have read that the band's current drummer is not the one who did the work on the EP. The guitars are lead-heavy, with emphasis on catchy string parts. Everything meshes together well, and the music moves along at a frenetic pace, which is good. Overall, the EP itself is solid. Songs like “Translating the Name,” “Lost Symphonies,” and “They Perch on Their Stilts, Pointing, and Daring Me to Break Custom” are truly memorable pieces. “Lost Symphonies” itself is a great technical demo for the band; I dare you to listen to the song just for the drumming. The other two songs, “Seven Years” and “3rd Measurement in C,” are somewhat average. They’re not bad, but the other songs are on a completely different plane. This is as good of a time as any to jump on the Saosin bandwagon. While I did mention that their sound had some soul, it is managing to transcend different boundaries in the music scene. I saw a video for one of their newer songs on Fuse the other day, not a good sign. Yet, while 12-year-old girls are becoming aware of this band, I’m not ashamed to say that I am a Saosin fan. favorite song: “lost symphonies" rating: 90%/100% listen to saosin