Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!
Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

JFH Music Review


Satellites & Sirens, Tanks
CLICK COVER TO ENLARGE

Satellites & Sirens
Tanks



Artist Info: Discography
Genre(s): Pop / Electro Pop
Album length: 12 tracks: 45 minutes, 57 seconds
Street Date: October 14, 2016


READER RATING:   


With the track record DREAM Records has with signing electronic artists, Satellites & Sirens seemed like the perfect fit for the label. Starting off from a Craigslist ad in Nashville, the band has always carried a flair for the electronica style. Coming off the heels of the independently-produced Frequency, Geoff Hunker and his rotating lineup released One Noise, which sanded off some of the edges of the sound Frequency solidified. And two years later, the eccentrically titled Tanks is the follow-up, and unfortunately, it's a step backward.

In fairness, S&S is a band that's identified their sound and stick to it, and Tanks is a natural continuation of One Noise. The problem is, it's just as dry now as it was two years ago. It has too many guitars to be a full-fledged electro-pop effort, but calling S&S an "alternative rock band" wouldn't be accurate either; this is a common trait of many artists on DREAM Records, and S&S is yet another band to join this trend, but even artists like Jonathan Thulin and the up-and-coming Matthew Parker are more firmly rooted in the electronic space to call their sound their own.

While this sounds odd, this sound is almost too accessible. From start to finish, Tanks blurs together with a mishmash of guitars, synths, altered vocals, and drum machines that it's hard to decipher where the generated sounds end and where the traditional instruments begin. This could very well be a case where S&S's live shows are more demonstrative of the band's true electronic identity, but in the last few years, this musical identity hasn't translated well in recorded form, and this started as soon as their independent status went away.

This isn't to say that there aren't a few songwriting curveballs; "Chasing Photos" (which also features some previously-unheard falsetto from Hunker) focuses on enjoying moments as they happen instead of living life behind an Instagram filter, and "Old Souls" serves as an appreciation piece to one's current stage of life ("We grow up so fast just to hate being old"). But these developments don't hide the barrage of cliches throughout the album, such as "Love is the new fight" ("Tanks"), "I want to love so much, it erases hate" ("Stereo"), and "It's enough to just be enough" ("Enough"). Even the album's title track uses an oddly violent allegory for loving others ("like tanks you can trust, we will crush everything with love"). It's creative, maybe, but it's hardly compelling.

On "Stereo," Satellites & Sirens asks, "Shouldn't we be setting the trends instead of just playing pretend?" It's a fair question for Christians alike, and the band would do well to apply this reasoning to their own musical progression. Tanks is a harmless outing, but as the band's fourth full-length album, it reveals a seasoned band that's still under-equipped in its musical arsenal.

- Review date: 10/14/16, written by Roger Gelwicks of Jesusfreakhideout.com



(JFH Sponsor Spot)

Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

 

. Record Label: Dream Records
. Album length: 12 tracks: 45 minutes, 57 seconds
. Street Date: October 14, 2016
. Buy It: iTunes
. Buy It: Amazon Music (MP3)

  1. Hey! (This Is The Life) (3:41)
  2. Who We Are (3:07)
  3. Chasing Photos (4:49)
  4. Old Souls (feat. Ronnie Petkovich) (3:53)
  5. Tanks (3:28)
  6. Stereo (3:46)
  7. Enough (feat. Joel Vaughn) (4:48)
  8. Living The Dream (2:39)
  9. Control (4:05)
  10. Don't Say A Thing (4:19)
  11. Wildfire (3:00)
  12. Waste Some Time (4:17)

 



Leave a Comment

 

 

go to main Album review page
go to Album review archive

 


(JFH Sponsor Spot)

 

 

                 
Get the new FREE JFH MP3 compilation -- Vol. 13!

Search JFH




This Friday, November 8, 2024
ALBUMS
Gabby Barrett Carols and Candlelight [Warner Music Nashville]
CXMMXNS CXMMXNS Chapter 1 - EP [Essential Worship]
New Hope Oahu There Is One - EP [DREAM]
Neal Morse & The Resonance No Hill For A Climber [InsideOut]
TAKE Time Bomb [Resuscitation Records]
Lauren Talley A Lauren Talley Christmas [Horizon]

SINGLES
Cory Asbury I Hope You Dance - Single [BEC]
Jordan Kauflin, Laura Story Approach, My Soul - Single [Getty]
Sam Bowman & GLADDEN Misfit Toys - Single [DREAM]
Wavorly Enemies - Single (independent)

VINYL
Michael W. Smith Every Christmas Vinyl [Rocketown]
Stryper To Hell with the Amps Vinyl [Frontiers]
TAKE Time Bomb Vinyl [Resuscitation Records]

DVD
Stryper To Hell with the Amps Blu-Ray [Frontiers]

Next Friday, November 15, 2024
ALBUMS
Dolly Parton & Family Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables [Owepar Entertainment]
The Lore Family Faith Over Fear [Horizon]
Fernando Ortega For All the Saints - EP (independent)
Earnest Pugh Worth is the Lamb
We Are Messengers Rejoice! (A Celtic Christmas) - EP [Curb]
Paul Wright III Reverie [United Alliance]

SINGLES
Big Dismal Here In My Heart - Single (independent)
Hannah Kerr It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Single [Curb]
Olivia Lane Silent Night - Single [BEC]
Tasha Layton Wake Up It's Christmas - Single [BEC]
Jamie MacDonald A Million Chances - Single [Capitol CMG]
Ronnie Martin On Christmas Morning - Single [Velvet Blue]
Hunter Plake Daylight - Single [BEC]
Jordan St. Cyr Christ is Here - Single [BEC]

VINYL
Sixpence None the Richer Divine Discontent Vinyl [Word]



For all release dates, click here!
 



Check out the new album from Taylor Holland Armstrong!



Listen to the new Single from Second Adam and the New Creations!

Check out depositphotos for royalty free images