Armor for Sleep - Dream To Make Believe

In the past, Armor For Sleep seemed to be headed for that "fatally generic, emo band to avoid" category. Yet, their new album, Dream To Make Believe, has been garnering a bit of buzz as in the past few months. After Equal Vision finally snared me with a track on a recent sampler, it seemed time to give this album some attention. While somewhat melancholy, a little spacy at times, and succumbing to the dreaded, for lack of a better term, “emo-pop” label, there is a somewhat definite resemblance to raw energy of Thursday that shines through on the album. Yet, Armor For Sleep carry their own with good flow, warm guitars, and engaging vocals. For examples of where the album climaxes, check out “My Town” and “The Wanderer’s Guild”. So, what's wrong with this album? First off, aimless introductory tracks have always seemed pointless - what really is the point of a 44-second instrumental introduction? And, despite the allure of the first half of the album, the songs become predictable and the vocal patterns grow stagnant. Nevertheless, despite the occasional setbacks, the entire album is very accessible, with no rough edges to kill the experience. It's good to see Equal Vision expand their roster to hold a band like Armor For Sleep. By combining melody with an energetic soundtrack, you could even forego the “emo-pop” and maybe just go with the equally dangerous “pop-core”. If that sounds alluring to you, Dream To Make Believe will be a nice addition to your collection. [www.armorforsleep.com]