Cathartic Angst-Rock The Way It Should Be
Mr. C. Whiteside | Dundee, Scotland | 01/30/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"No, you've never heard of them. No, they haven't been on Top Of The Pops. No, your mum will not like them. But British angst-rockers Serafin are, undoubtledly, one of the most promising bands currently doing the rounds, which is no mean feat. On this, their debut album, they effortlessly combine catchy-as-hell anthemic chorus and face-melting overdriven guitars.Opener Stephen In The Sky slowly sets the stage from what is to come, like a shape in fog, then our heroes hit the accelerator for their two UK singles, Day By Day and Things Fall Apart. The former, with it's pounding drum beat and rolling chorus comes on strong, but it's Things Fall Apart that is the album highlight. The instantly memorable chorus, and fantastic riffs lift the song above most of the tat that passes for a decent rocker nowadays.Serafin, alas, never quite beats this high- but they get damn close. Ordinarily me starts as a simple ode to the pain of being normal, and ends up screaming it's title at you as tho overcome with grief. Sage Waits (for all it's horrendous intro rhyming) is a swirling piece of ordinarily rock, and Green Distaster Twice throws structural convention out the window, becoming simply one great rant.This is by no means a perfect record of course- several tracks will have you reaching for the skip button before they even leave the into, and the inexplicable Peaches From Spain seems only there to seperate the clsong track from the rest of the material. But if you want a no-nonsense, hard-edged rock band, playing top-notch punkish angst for all it's worth, you've come to the right place."
Serafin is on top
Manny | 04/15/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This album is great! Day by Day is probably their best song. Only a few songs aren't that great, and the album is kind of expensive, but it's still great."
A truly superb yet relatively unknown masterpiece.........
Manny | London, UK | 01/02/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is simply one of the top 5 albums in my entire collection.
Usually you would buy an album and consider it good if you enjoy at least half of the songs on it. On this thing, EVERY song grabs me, I'm serious! This is why I have given it 5 stars, which I think I have only done 3 times previously for The Smashing Pumpkins, Hole and My Vitriol. Indeed, along with The Distillers 'Coral Fang' album which I haven't reviewed yet, it is the best album I have bought in 3-4 years!
Why?
Because the music they make totally and utterly captivates me. They somehow creatively blend a melodic, light and 'dreamy' feel with some hard hitting guitar chords and it works wonderfully; I just love those sudden tonal variations they often throw in. It's the sort of thing the Smashing Pumpkins used to be masters at (`Mayonnaise', springs to mind here). Serafin seem to combine the best elements of Snow Patrol, Muse, Idlewild, and My Vitriol.
I agree with the previous reviewer in that 'Things Fall Apart' is the best tune on the album, the chorus is simply.................................................... :-& (sorry, my vocabulary seems limited at this point). Joint second places would go to `Lethargy', `No Happy', `Day by Day' and `Build High, Tear Low'.
With such brilliant music, I somehow feel exasperated that they do not receive more recognition, is there something wrong with my ears?
Surely it will come, but then again when you see Britney, Christina, Justin et al frequently occupying top chart positions you begin to wonder............... ;-)
Laters
"
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1