Senses Fail

From the Depths of Dreams (2003)

Dan Perrone

Senses Fail is nothing more than your average New Jersey "emo-core" band,
taking elements from every single hit "emo-core" band and putting them into one mega
"emo-core" song, making them insanely popular in NJ, "emo-core" capital of the freaking
world. I really hope you all picked up on how I put "emo-core" in quotes.

The fact that I am from Jersey, the state that this band hails from, makes me like them
even less, for their contrived sound has won them countless numbers of fans in Jersey who
admire other bands such as Taking Back Sunday and The Used. It's sickening to see how
a band so unoriginal has gotten so large. Maybe it's just me, but I really do dislike this
band.

Bias aside, their new album, From The Depths Of Dreams, out on Drive-Thru
Records, will be eaten up not only by Jersey kids, but by kids everywhere, simply because
it takes everything that is "right" in the genre and mixes it up into one giant unoriginal EP
of eight songs. Senses Fail has got everything down pat; the whiney lead vocalist, the
countless uses of backup vocals (a la Taking Back Sunday), and the weak lyrics of
heartache. Above all though, the lyrics stand out like a sore thumb, solely for being simple
ridiculous. A prime example of this can be found in the leadoff track, "Stephen":
"November 10th, a cold dark night. You could feel that something wasn't right. That
night many hearts did cry, when we learned we had to say goodbye." I can put my
money on it that Stephen is turning in his grave right now. The lyrics are written with the
"soul" and "passion" of a cardboard box, and it honestly seems like Senses Fail rhymes
lyrics just for the sake of rhyming.

As far as the songs go, there is no variety or departure from the whole Taking Back
Sunday / Brand New style. The opener, the aforementioned "Stephen", starts out
promising, but falls into the trap of repeated lyrics and riffs for four minutes straight.
"Free Fall Without A Parachute" is not nearly as bad, but the female vocals towards the
end kill the song. "Bloody Romance" would be my pick if I had to take a favorite song off
this CD. It's fairly solid all the way through. "Dreaming A Reality" is a straight-up
boring five minute long crapfest, and "The Ground Folds" isn't that much better, although
the intro to the latter song doesn't sound all that bad (the vocals kill it though). "One
Eight Seven" is probably the "heaviest" and "angriest" song on the album, with plenty of
unwelcome (and bad) screaming, especially towards the end, where the vocalist
absolutely SPILLS all of his emotion out all over everyone as he so woefully
screams "I'll stab you one time - I'll eat your heart out - So you feel my pain - Don't
you know that I always see you in all of my dreams? - I wanna kill you!"
I feel his pain (as well as hers, because, come on, he's eating her heart out!). "Handguns
And Second Chances" seems filler, as it was added to the Drive-Thru release of this, for
this is a re-release of their EP. An acoustic version of "The Ground Folds" ends the CD,
as well as what little tolerance I had for this band.

In short, this is nothing you haven't heard before. It is contrived, bland, and unoriginal,
and not worth your time. Save your money.

Standout Tracks:

"Bloody Romance"
"Freefall Without A Parachute"