Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) - When the Sea Became a Giant
Rating
RIYL
MineralAmerican Football
The Appleseed Cast
Tracklist
1. Our Love Has Made Us Pariahs2. You Have To Believe that Life Is More Than The Sum Of It's Parts, Kiddo
3. Lilly, I Have Something Important To Tell You
4. They Will Throw Us To The Wolves
5. K.O. K.O (The Most Of My Worries Are The Least Of Your Concerns)
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I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve been paying more attention to detail lately, but I can’t help but notice a rapid growth of exclamation marks in band names these days. Now, I’m all for exclamation marks, so I can’t help but get excited when seeing a band with two of them in their name. However, I can’t say the same for parenthesis because I’ve never seen a song name with a worthwhile parenthesis, let alone a band name. So my first impression of Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) was terribly confusing – are these guys going to be brilliant or are they just douchebags?
Luckily enough for Empire! Empire! they are not douchebags, though I can’t say they are brilliant either. Hailing from Fenton, Michigan, Empire! Empire! is primarily the solo project of Keith Latinen, though his wife Cathy does pitch in every now and then. With their debut EP, When the Sea Became a Giant, Empire! Empire! bring forth a short collection of tunes that sound like throwbacks to the Midwest post-emo bands of the mid-to-late 90s like American Football and Mineral.
Upon my first listen, it was refreshing to hear a band go back to their roots and revive the scene that eventually led to the painfully trite pop-punk “emo” scene of today. However, I found myself getting more and more bored with each consecutive listen. The reason for this is that When the Sea Became a Giant is nothing new. It would have been refreshing if Empire! Empire! brought back the old post-emo sound and put their own twist on it, but they didn’t. Mineral wrote this album nine years ago and did it much better. After a while, you’re left with the feeling that Empire! Empire! just took a crash course in Post-Emo 101 and ended up regurgitating all they knew.
That being said, When the Sea Became a Giant is still worth a few spins. Tracks like “Our Love has Made us Pariahs” and “K.O.K.O” display heartfelt guitar noodling with builds and swells ala American Football and emotional vocals that together make for a heartwarming listen. I must say though, the main deterrent of Empire! Empire! for most people is undoubtedly going to be the fact that Keith Latinen cannot sing, though he does sound eerily reminiscent of Craig Owens of Chiodos from time to time. However, his inability to sing actually makes the album sound endearing and warm and allows for the listener to connect better on an emotional level.
Overall, Empire! Empire! has the potential to do some nice things. Hopefully they can expand their sound for their next release and make it a memorable one. Until then, though, if you’re a fan of the old post-emo scene, then give When the Sea Became a Giant a listen.
--Armand Babian
Comments
Troy, Michigan
Troy, Michigan
Los Angeles
pretty much how i felt about this.
postrockpaperscissors
Minnesota