Bring Out Your Dead are a steadfast Long Island hardcore band that don't really have the typical LIHC sound. You can't really fault them for wanting to step outside the region's box a little, but Just Stay Asleep... is largely missing something to make it stick out.

The five songs on Just Stay Asleep... are unique, but it's more in that vague, bizarre-mish-mash-of-influence way where you can't really tell who or where the band is pulling from. There are ex-members of Scraps and Heart Attacks here, but they hold virtually zero similarities; their vocalist instead has a gravelly growl that doesn't ever get overbearing (he's kind of like a lower-end version of Subterfuge's Chris Mazella, sharing a first name), but he's also very one-dimensional. That might be largely what holds this EP back, as there some interesting, upbeat countermelodies going on in the guitar work on the occasion.

There's a little too much going on in the chorus with the tri-vocal attack for "The Dirty Casanova & the Cadaver Bride," but it otherwise sticks out pretty fiercely as it's got a smooth, angsty melody about it in a post-Turn It Around Comeback Kid way. It's too bad its verses are sort of just fast-paced, straightforward white noise. "Life After Chris Farley" has an okay hook, but it's really fleeting. "Never Wake a Sleep Walker" has a fairly epic feel and better-layered guitars during its bridge, at least, and hints towards something much, much greater in the future.

There's definite promise here, as the mosh parts never sound too shoehorned or dragged-out, and at its core, this EP is hardcore with careful metallic and melodic edges--it does ignore a lot of douche-chill metalcore moments you could easily hear being potentially utilized. But the band isn't quite at the point yet where they seem to have an effective and realized sound of their own.

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When Long Island Meets Atlantis
The Dirty Casanova & the Cadaver Bride
Never Wake a Sleep Walker