Yesterdays Rising
Lightworker (2005)
Brian Shultz
Yesterdays Rising started out as a group of high school kids who crafted an enjoyable DIY EP entitled Ship Of Relations in 2003. It was heavily derivative of hometown (Temecula, CA) locals Finch and A Static Lullaby, but the band was an obviously talented bunch. On the strength of MP3.com plays and internet hype, the band eventually signed to Fearless Records.
Lightworker is Fearless's first foray into the modern styles of the genre in a few years, and Yesterdays Rising's premier full-length, and as most debuts go it's scattershot with some problems. Sure, the band has creeped slightly away from the early Finch and Static Lullaby similarities, opting more for a Dead Poetic / Thursday hybrid, but the songs that make up Lightworker really aren't performed near as well as those two bands they're likely drawing influence from. Lead singer Brandon Bolmer's scream isn't forced at all, but his singing voice, despite hitting pitches finely, is rather flat and unaffecting for the disc's duration; in addition, you may as well replace the last few letters in his name as he severely resembles Incubus's Brandon Boyd at many points throughout (check out his "hook" line of "I am fortunate to know" in the song of the same name).
Sound-wise, the disc continues in the same fashion as the band's 2004 EP, When We Speak, We Breathe, in that it seems to mix melodic, modern rock tendencies with the scream-laced post-hardcore sound. It isn't quite radio rock-ready as some reviews and otherwise outside opinions have made it out to be, but it's closer to that territory than most previous recordings. Luckily, the production isn't near as horrendous, with vocals never weakly raspy or buried in the mix and a snare drum that refrains from clumsily popping.
Unfortunately, it can't save what's a rather boring and unmemorable album. Save for opener "For The Readers" (even with its terribly self-aggrandizing lines like "I will explain like an ancient myth, only for the interested"), it's hard to recall much of anything even after several listens. The rest is a veritable snoozefest; the band is a competent group of musicians, but aren't near creative or powerful enough to keep the listener entranced for any given amount of time.
After a second disappointing release in a row, it's clear Yesterdays Rising is on a decline. Instead of trying to fuse their bulging genre with some originality or passion, they rely on an even more widely-accepted style to create a sound that just doesn't deliver on the promise the band hinted at shortly after their formation.