Full Review: The Honorary Title – Scream and Light Up The Sky

“Scream and Light Up The Sky” does not break new ground in the ‘indie style’ scene but it does bring that style to the masses with its songs that build and grow increasingly catchier as they progress. The Desperate vocals which strain to get the point across which Jarrod Gorbel has perfected give the record the passion which most other albums lack.

The songs on this record are much more mature in the sense that most have more dimensions to them than songs on the previous record. The melody and enthusiasm is still intact but the songs feel more dynamic in their structure.

The album opens with “Thin Layer” a forgettable song when compared to the rest of the record. Once that song is out of the way the album explodes with hook after hook. Right around the 1 minute point into “Stay Away” the curtains are pulled back and a glimpse of what you can expect is seen. This collection of songs may be some which take a few listens before you completely hooked but it shouldn’t take long. “Untouched and Intact” is familiar to the fans looking for something similar to the last album, even the way the song slips into the bridge is reminiscent to the honorary title’s classic style. “Along The Way” changes it up a bit with a string picking, alt-country, toe tapping, bouncy feel. “Apologize” is another classic honorary title tune, yet doesn’t build until towards the very end of the song and only briefly.

“The City’s Summer” stands out far beyond the rest of the songs because of how different it is for the band. The ultimately repetitive song is able to stand on its own for a few listens and would make a good radio single but how many listens before it regularly gets skipped? That will depend more on the person listening.

I feel a bit jaded having listened to this record 40/50+ times, the original awe and wonder I felt when first hearing “Scream and Light Up The Sky” seems to have disappeared. I was finding it hard to get back to how I saw these songs with wide eyes the first time, but what I realized is that I still like listening to these songs after hearing them so many times which is a rare thing.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 6:40 pm and is filed under Full Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.