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Album Reviews
OK. I
had my eyes fixed on Mourning September even before the
release of their debut CD, A Man Can Change His Stars. After
hearing the album, I am only more sure that Mourning
September will be heard of in future years. I'd have to say
that Mourning September are strongest in their melodies.
Although creating upbeat songs with amazing production,
their melodies are the one factor setting them apart from
the other slew of emo-rock bands that pretty much the entire
world has been exposed to. Mourning September brings
shimmers, breakdowns, sing-a-longs, and builds up a-plenty,
while singing about their personal relationship with Christ.
A personal favorite of mine and also the first single, "Glorietta,"
is about God's relentless presence each morning. Mourning
September offer plenty of hope to a scene laced with anger,
hate, and "slits my wrists" type bands. The vocals make
every word count. The vocal talent is best showed off in
"Lights And Jewels," in the final breakdown of the song.
Tony Chavez's vocals soar to an all-time high, and create
the most intense moment on the disc. Compared to a majority
of emo-rockers these days, Mourning September have a better
and bigger sound, and will probably win over a lot of people
with this CD. "Mourning September, a band determined to
relate themselves and their music to the world the most
honest way they can. No pretension, no gimmicks, just good
music played by a great band." Well said.
~
Espy
Lately I’ve been pretty emo-ed out as I’ve been inundated
by new releases from Further Seems Forever, Jimmy Eats
World, Name Taken, and Saves the Day so needless to say,
I’ve had my fill. Knowing that, I took on the task of
reviewing this cd by Mourning September. Upon the first
listen I was sorely unimpressed, but I figured that might
be because I had heard so much emo lately, so I gave it a
few more listens over the next couple of days to see if
my attitude towards it changed.
Those extra few spins over those few days helped me to
actually get into the cd a little more, but I’m afraid
this release is still not much more than a competent,
modern emo effort. Outside of two choice tracks—“The
Damage” and “Lights and Jewels”—most of the songs were
standard emo rock fare in the vein of Further Seems
Forever or Name Taken. The vocals are standard, crooning
emo fare. The guitars have that melancholy feel to them
that comes with the genre. The majority of the tempos are
in the slower range to accentuate the emotiveness of the
vocals and guitars, while the drums and bass do a very
natural job of rounding out their sound.
The two tracks mentioned above stand out because they
both take on a bit of a different permutation with their
song structure in comparison to the rest of the album.
“The Damage” is actually a pretty heavy and thundering
hard rock track and, frankly, it feels way out of place
on this cd, yet it’s probably the best track on here.
“Lights and Jewels” is a moderately epic sized song at
almost six minutes. This song succeeds at being great
because it actually feels like there is some real emotion
being put into it instead of the faux emo that most bands
in the genre put out today. Other than these two tracks,
pretty much every song is interchangeable because of
their similarities.
For all you emo kids, this is another solid release into
the genre, but if you’ve had your fill of bands wearing
their hearts on their sleeves, you’re not going to find
anything new on this one.
~
Rick Gebhardt
Tulsa, OK, band Mourning September drew their name in
part from the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Lead vocalist Tony Chavez explains, “I was going through
a rough time personally in September of 2001, and
combined with all the events that were going on in the
world, it was a pretty hard month. We had to come up with
a name for our first show, and we really liked the sound
of Mourning September. After that day, the name just
stuck.”
Their debut “A Man Can Change His Stars” debuted in early
August (2004). Initially I didn’t find the CD all that
gripping. I was apprehensive because I thought it was too
generic and much like every other rock band surfacing in
this new phase of Christian music. However after reading
into the lyrics and song meanings I was turned around.
Mourning September intelligently tackles topics of every
day life, relationships (Closer to Closure), the
challenges (The Damage), and even death (Lights and
Jewels).
Musically they classify themselves as rock – emo pop, and
although it’s not full of hooks it’s always hard driven
and authentic. Like their label mates Cool Hand Luke, I
found the depth of writing and quality of musicianship to
be brilliant.
~
Ken W.
Mourning September(Homepage)
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