Rise and Shine - Self/Titled

Rise and Shine - Demo / 4 Tracks / 2003 Sleepwalk Recordings / http://www.sleepwalkrecordings.com / http://www.riseandshinemusic.com/ / Reviewed 22 April 2004

Even though the band says that this EP is “basically a practice tape with a facelift”, the fact is the tremendous energy of the band shines through, clean as day. The apeshit-crazy mood of “The Things You Saved Can’t Be Replaced”, having all the members of Rise and Shine blast through their parts with the utmost speed from the “starting line” of its synthesizer opening. Seamlessly moving from pop-punk to emo-rock and rock, Rise and Shine is a band that doesn’t feel content spinning the same tired song over and over. While the main drum parts in “Things You Save” might be a little repetitive at time, at least they contribute a sense of rhythm to the track that a lot of other drum lines just simply can’t accomplish. Keeping a close eye to the time signatures, Rise and Shine are able to stop on a dime and completely wheel around on another direction without any noticeable degradation in their abilities. Imagine the pop sensibilities of Weezer mixed with the turbulent general sound of Hidden in Plain View or Alkaline Trio, and one can start to see the greatness that is “Work, In Progress”.

Mixing in some compelling multi-part harmonies during “Work, In Progress”, Rise and Shine is able to create a song with lyrics discernible enough to be a anthem like Taking Back Sunday’s “Cute Without The E” or Against Me’s “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong”. Jumping off the deep end musically, Rise and Shine breaks out their hard rock influences for the beginning “An Anchor In Quicksand”, and construct a façade of chaos for the track, obscuring the tremendous amount of harmony that the band has on the track. Finishing up the disc with “Checkmate”, Rise and Shine bash through their final track with more than a little difficulty – this song is much more visceral and raw than any of the previous tracks.

While the previous two paragraphs detail the tracks available on Rise and Shine’s EP, I feel that some other tracks of Rise And Shine’s need to be detailed. For example, the ethereal remix of “Checkmate” removes any of the roughness of the original and moves it back to the shoegazing trend of the late nineties, with much success. Live versions of the EP tracks are even more intense than the studio tracks, and with that, I can just imagine a Rise and Shine show being one of the most energetic of any current band. Rise and Shine is on the rise, and I would wholeheartedly suggest that anyone that is in the least bit interested check out the band.

Top Track: The Things You Saved Can’t Be Replaced

Rating: 8.7/10