Downtown Singapore – Don’t Let Your Guard Down / 2006 DCide / 12 Tracks / http://www.dtownrock.com / http://www.dcide.com / Reviewed 09 April 2006

Downtown Singapore moves away from the emo style that has dominated popular music for the last few years and ties an emotive style to the very simple and iconic style of The Offspring. This fusion of styles is something that shows innovation in the music scene and not merely a band that is trying to suck on the popular teat. The style is still very radio-friendly, but contains enough in the way of differing sounds to make listener’s eyebrows raise.

For example, during “What She Said” there are a few structures that would work well during the progressive rock style of a Coheed and Cambria, even as the vocals would point to something closer to Yellowcard and the drums would find more of a common ground with acts like The Bravery and Franz Ferdinand. This ability to completely unite styles that would not normally work well together shows the maturity of Downtown Singapore. While the disc was released on DCide, there is little holding this back from being a Doghouse release. “Choir Boy” (a song that features Larry of My American Heart) is a much more deliberate and pensive song than many others on “Don’t Let Your Guard Down”. The track does not completely depart from the style of music that is common on the album, but approaches it from a slower, more stable arrangement. The same desire of the band to add different styles to the emo genre is present here, as the band adds a large amount of hardcore influences (most notably, gunfire-quick drumming) to the track.

What will strike listeners immediately about Downtown Singapore is their ability to successfully layer each track on “Don’t Let Your Guard Down” to a degree that most individuals would agree as being cluttered. However, the masterful hands of Matt Squire (who worked with acts like Panic! At The Disco, The Receiving End of Sirens and Northstar) make sure that this cluttered sound does not happen and that Downtown Singapore sails above these problems. “Gator Sweat” is another of these quieter tracks, but shows a range of styles that has its extremes at the sedate sounds that begin the track and the fury that engulfs the midpoint of the track. The band is at a much different point at the ending of this album than they were at the ending of “Understanding A Guarantee”: let’s hope that the band can keep innovating as the years pass.

Top Tracks: Choir Boy, Gator Sweat

Rating: 6.0/10

[JMcQ]