SiloI received this CD single a few weeks back and have been steadily giving it rotations in my CD player over that period of time. I've delayed writing the review for a couple of reasons. Mainly, the simple fact that I just felt like taking a couple of weeks off from writing reviews around the hectic holiday season. The other reason I hesitated to write this review prematurely was that I didn't get a great first impression from this CD. Not that it's necessarily the songs at fault, but more likely, I wasn't really listening to it. Rather, I used the CD as background music and didn't pay attention like I should have, considering I was to write a review for it. I did, however, hear something of interest in these tunes as early as first listen, so I chose to give the three songs on this single more time to embed themselves into my subconscious.
Silo is a new band from Cork, Ireland. If their press release is even half true, they seem to be fairly popular in their hometown. Unfortunately, that is about the extent of my knowledge of this group. In fact, I have only one trivial complaint about this release; the aforementioned press release and bio is poorly written and offers little to no relevant information on this up-and-coming band. If one looks to the band's Myspace for more answers they will come up equally stumped. Judging from the lone review posted and the bands listed influences; one might expect a Nirvana rip-off band or something resembling the earlier Seattle grunge sound of the 1990's. In fact, the only band's on their "influences" list that I recognize in this trio of songs is The Pixies and Kerbdog. And here in America, you'd be hard-pressed to locate someone who is evenly vaguely familiar with the Kilkenny band, Kerbdog. But before you jump down my throat, I understand a group's sound doesn't have to be similar for someone to be considered an influence. Unfortunately though, in this online age, that is how most may judge this band before listening to them. Now on to what I hear and don't see…there's more Mudhoney than any other Seattle band and some mannerisms of early Sonic Youth and even Muse, with a little less complicated ambition, of course. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, as those two aforementioned bands often bog the listener down with too many layers of sound that can sound jumbled or confusing to the average ears.
It may seem like I spent a long time criticizing this band, but in truth, I really love these three tracks. Even though I knocked their bio and Myspace page, how important is that after all? It may be so for their potential popularity, but I am but a lone music critic. What only matters to me and should only matter to you is the tunes and to put it frankly…they rock! Here's hoping that they overcome a weak press release and hit it big outside Cork so we'll have new music for some time to come.
Rating: 5/5
Songs Worthy of Replay: "Unlucky For Some", "Happy" & "Sub"
Synopsis: I haven't been nearly as in tune with the Irish music scene since I moved away from the Emerald Isle nearly five years ago, but I'm glad this band was brought to my attention. They are the best Irish band I have heard since I laid ears on Berkeley a few years ago, who coincidentally share a similar '90s post-indie rock sound as Silo. Just because you don't live in Ireland, that is no excuse not to support this band. Go to www.myspace.com/thesiloband and enjoy some good music!