Forming in 2000, the Canadian five-piece Silverstein quickly became a fixture in the post-hardcore/emo scene with their first two albums When Broken Is Easily Fixed and Discovering the Waterfront. In 2007, they teamed up with producer Mark Trombino (Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World) and released a more “straight forward” rock album with Arrivals & Departures. This had the effect of dividing old fans who fell in love with their screamo sound and luring in new fans that enjoyed the pop punk melodies and catchy guitar hooks. Fifteen years on, Arrivals & Departures is getting a newly remixed and remastered release by Craft Recordings for this year’s Black Friday RSD. Pressed on green opaque marble vinyl, the album will also include a translucent green 7-inch with the tracks “Rain Will Fall” and “Falling Down” that were originally included on the limited-edition CD release.
Arrivals & Departures has a good amount of variety on it, for being considered a screamo album. Their signature sound comes on strong right out the gate with the album opener “Sound of the Sun” which constantly see-saws from heavy hardcore to melodic. Though the following track “Bodies and Words” follows a similar format, its here that we start getting a decent amount of riffs that have absent in previous releases. On the lead single “If You Could See Into My Soul” the band tones down their sound a bit with a slower rhythm and chorus pedal guitar effects and a half screamed chorus. “The Sand Will Turn to Glass” plays out a lot more like a pop punk song than a screamo song and really helps to give more variety to the album. There are, however, a couple of songs that seem a bit lazy. “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” finds the band rehashing the same chord progression over and over throughout while “True Romance” follows the same two verse/chorus formula through its entire six minutes.
Though maybe not their strongest album, it is definitely the best gateway album for new listeners who aren’t ready for the full screamo experience. Arrivals & Departures finds Silverstein taking a chance at utilizing some of their other musical influences and can be a bit hit-or-miss, but is generally a solid album. For fans of the band and for vinyl enthusiasts interested in adding a bit of post-hardcore to their collection, this fifteenth anniversary edition is a worthy pick up on this edition of Black Friday RSD.
