I could write reams and reams about my love for Senses Fail (and how I get frustrated they write awesome songs and shit songs in equal measure) but I’ll perhaps cover that another time. Buddy Nielsen (rightfully) gets criticised for his lyrical content and for (sometimes) singing way out of tune but he’s refined the delivery this time round and this new record features more singing and less screaming. The guitar work is also stepped up a notch, which could have something to do with the axe work of a certain ex-Midtown shredder…
Anyway ‘Life Is Not A Waiting Room’ is ruddy marvellous in places and a bit average in others. ‘Garden State’ and ‘Lungs Like Gallows‘ sound a bit like Thrice. ‘Wolves at the Door’ is the best song Thrice never wrote. It’s ‘Deadbolt’-era Thrice too. The best Thrice. It’s the urgency that makes Senses Fail sound so good when they’re at their best. And that’s why, in places, this record is so good. But, as normal, there are elements of this record which frustrate me. Perhaps take 3/4 tracks away and you’d have an extra star on the score. ‘Yellow Angels’, for instance, is just a bit shit.
‘Four Years’ is a throw back to EP-era SF, while the riffs are back in abundance for ‘Ali For Cody’. When the band go at it, pedal pushed to the floor, they’re unstoppable. It’s the record Thrice fans wish they’d write. And that’s good and bad for Senses Fail fans. On the whole this is a decent listen, a little shift sonically, but a lot of fun nonetheless. If you’re a fan, you’ll enjoy this. But those who previously dismissed them may well like this too…