Silverstein

When Broken is Easily Fixed (2003)

Megan

Victory Records is leaning towards the pop punk side even more than usual these days. With the release of Silverstein's third album "When Broken Is Easily fixed" its easy to begin criticizing this move on Victory's part. Where other bands such as Taking Back Sunday are able to make appealing pop-punk that has a somewhat different twist to it, this band fails terribly.

This disc is a formulaic "hey let's take some crappy generic music, call it a blend of post-hardcore emo and punk and hope the kids are stupid enough not to realize our lack of talent." The songs consist of vocalist Shane Told bitching about his broken heart. Get over it Silverstein, its all been done before, and far better than how you do it.

The drums on this album are weak and forgettable, in the song "November" they all but disappear. "November" also showcases the band's weak lyrics: "I know you cannot hide. Over and over and over I've tried. It broke my heart. It felt so good to see you. I've never been one to put my trust in. When did I become so weak or have I always been?" Weak. That's the perfect word to describe this band.

Also, since album art is such a hot topic around here, it seems necessary to mention that this cover art sucks. It's absolutely hideous. Oh look, the robot is ripping out his broken heart. This album is a waste of shelf space. The guitars sound like all the other shit out there. Absolutely nothing distinguishes this band from any other in their genre. Except perhaps for the fact that if possible, Silverstein is even worse than your average pop-punk calamity.