Circa Survive - Violent Waves

This album isn’t just Circa Survive’s best, it’s one of the best albums of 2012 so far.

By Rhys Milsom / September 3, 2012

rating: 5

Release date: August 28th Facebook Website

Second album syndrome didnt affect Circa Survive, the doctor told me. And thats because the symptoms of living up to the standards of the first werent needed, the doctor also told me. The doctor also mentioned that the bands first album, Juturna, is such a long way off the sound the band now have that its almost unrecognisable. Like seeing a distant relative for the first time in years, the chances are you wont recognise them straight away. Last time you saw him, he was just a little kid tugging at his dads shorts and his mams skirt with knees and elbows full of plaster-covered scabs and so hyper it was like watching a bouncy ball rebound around the inside of an elevator. Now he towers over you, has a voice plunging into the depths of manhood, has the beginnings of a fine pair of whiskers and tells you about his girlfriend; about his applications for university. In other words: hes grown up. And thats exactly what happened to Circa Survive. Maturity. I dont know how the doctor knew so much about Circa Survive, either. Perhaps hes a massive fan or a living encyclopedia of knowledge who spends every moment, when hes not stitching peoples lives back together, gathering information about everyone and everything. Id go with hes a massive fan, though. He was constantly humming some of their tracks while repairing my broken ego and shooting some much-needed energy back into my body after four days of living in a tent in a field, surrounded by 40-somethings afraid to lose their youth, couples carting around their two-year old child and the 18-30s drinking the days away and smoking the nights into a haze of digits. The doctor is a cool guy. Get a chance to have a chat with him and you may just lose your mind. The bands new album was released on August 28th (Ive been living in a field so youll have to excuse the lateness of this review) and is a follow-up to 2010s Blue Sky Noise. It was self-produced and has been released using direct-to-fan distribution. This means that the band has built a web delivery system that allows them to deliver the album directly to fans without any record label or distributor involvement; further increasing the close-knit feel to their fans that the band pride themselves on. This new album has allowed the band to push the self-release paradigm one step further and also shows the bands sound becoming even more solid and addictive than ever before. This album is a step into the prime of Circa Survives existence, and like an athlete whos been training for two years for that one event that will shape their own history, Circa Survive have also pulled away from the other contenders and have left them as fading motes as the dust on the track plumes into the air with every step to the final ending, every note that plays through each and every track on this 11-song album. The album kicks off with Bird Sounds. An eerie, ambient-filled guitar roams free while the drums rhythmically structure themselves around the fluctuating and delicately soaring guitar-lines. Anthony Greens vocals tenderly lament through the track, with the lyrics of And every morning there's a meaningful mistake / You're not awake at all / You're not awake at all, running circles through your head long after the tracks ended. Brother Song is a classy, polished track with guitars strumming and stabbing in an out of the track like a knitting needle pushing through cloth. The lyrics of And I won't share your anger / It doesn't do me any good to feel / And we can't shape our feelings the right way / Until we learn things won't ever change no, combined with the yawning, hazy sunrise feel that the guitar gives is an effective part to the track as the vocals and guitar are almost competing for the most attention, a duel, and neither of them come out on top but end up creating a significant aspect of refined precision thats not just a highlight of the track, but of the whole album. The track is akin to waking up on a simmering beach after a night of too much rum, the waves separating your jumbled thoughts for a clean, fresh outlook on your past, present, future. The track leaves you feeling stimulated and inspired, and is a personal favourite. http://youtu.be/ow0ubURI0Q0 Phantasmagoria has all the sentiment of a wild-west bar, the cowboys fighting for the right to spend a night with the lady who sits on the bar-steps, taunting them with her high-riding dress and stockings. The riff jangles and clips away like the keys hanging off the cowboys jeans, but also plunges you into the renegade feel the track has just like one of their fists would thrust into your stomach. The drums are the bar-stools breaking, Greens vocals are the voice of the victor as he definitely wins even the most hardest-to-impress fan with his vocals and lyrics here. The final lyrics of God, money, and women will break your heart / Crush your soul, and leave you empty, and torn apart are about as hard to singalong to as saying no to winning the lottery. It just doesnt happen. The final track, Think Of Me When They Sound, is a gracious, slow-burning, passionate track that ends the album on a chasm of overwhelming tenderness. The tired, subtle guitar plays in the background, behind Greens vocals, like a crackling campfire and evokes memories of old times, old friends and lost hours. The sample of the waves, combined with the delicate guitar, only adds to that effect and as the final notes die out the silence is almost unbearable and leaves you with a knotted stomach. http://youtu.be/ST50_i-ebko This album isnt just Circa Survives best, its one of the best albums of 2012 so far. Indulge in it, thrive in it and get lost in it, this album is sure to resonate and hit hard with every listener.