BIAS WARNING: Let me start by admitting something to you, dear reader. I am an absolute sucker for a concept album. Always have been. Something, something, something, artsy compliment here. From Pink Floyd’s The Wall to Cursive’s The Ugly Organ — and mostly anything by Coheed and Cambria, I just can’t get enough. So it should be no surprise that I am elated to review Silverstein’s repressing of their fourth LP, A Shipwreck in the Sand. But as always, this is a review of the quality of the record and its pressing, not the music itself.
A Shipwreck in the Sand was first released 15 years ago, reaching #3 on the Billboard Independent Albums and #1 in mine and my 2009 roommate’s hearts. You see, up until this point I was never sure about the band. They had some amazing Warped performances and a couple bops – hell they even helped us find our keys after a show once – but it wasn’t until I heard this album’s title track that I was sold on these Canucks. It had that element of Boys Night Out’s Trainwreck, but replaced night terror murder with nautical mutiny… Sickkk!
The pressing I received for review was the “black variant,” which as a purist I appreciate. It’s flat, it’s heavy, and I didn’t hit any added noise on either side. This may be some confirmation bias, but it’s also the only record I received this month that didn’t warp in Phoenix heat, which I’m chalking up to black being the superior vinyl material!
And whether by design or pure happenstance, I love that Chapters 1 and 2 are on Side A while Chapters 3 and 4 round out Side B. You just didn’t get that kind of attention to detail in the aughts era which focused mainly on CD and iTunes formats. The only thing this pressing missed was a complementary 45-rpm of “Chapter 5,” which features Silverstein covers of the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Saves the Day, and NOFX.
Get your copy now at craftrecordings.com.
