RIP: The Receiving End of Sirens (2003-2008)
Two full-lengths later, Massachusetts "experimental post-hardcore" rockers The Receiving End of Sirens have called it quits. If you've never heard TREOS, picture yourself looking through a telescope at a hardcore band playing in slow motion on a cloud, each note rippling on your skin like a tiny rain-drop.
They're like an ambient parade of melodic elephants, grazing loudly at an electronic pool.
You stop it, Mark. You stop it now.
Really, there's no way to pigeonhole these guys into a category, so I'm trying to find the most colorful picture to paint. The chord progressions aren't incredibly unique, but the sound is. The vocals are strong, the guitars stronger, the drums strongest. The sound is ambient in a heavenly and futuristic way, not overtly noisy and chaotic. In fact, the electronics almost always fit like a glove into the song's theme.
Apparently, the band broke up after bassist/vocalist Brendan Brown decided he couldn't stand being on tour away from his newborn child. Kids, always ruining everything.
Between 2005's Between the Heart and the Synapse and 2007's The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi, there isn't a tremendous musical progression. But there's definitely a consistency that almost transcends the missing progression, like the first album was an unfinished masterpiece and the second album was the final part of the saga.
Also, between the two albums, TREOS picked up ex-Boys Night Out drummer Brian Southall. A great drummer, but I bet he's reconsidering his career move, especially after BNO's outstanding 2007 self-titled.
Anyway, TREOS hint that they might actually in some sort of musical limbo, but all signs point to the end.
If you haven't heard these guys, I highly suggest you check them out. They might be broken up, but that doesn't mean they haven't left some good listenin' behind.
"We die to stay alive, we kill to survive."
- The Receiving End of Sirens, "The War of All Against All"
