SINKING SHIPS "Disconnecting" (Revelation) Review by Jordan A. Baker
Urgency. It's the single most important thing in a hardcore band and it's something that cannot be faked no matter how hard a group tries. Plenty of bands can play fast and hard, but without the threads of a slipping grip or the rawness of a shredded throat, there's just something amiss. Not with SINKING SHIPS though - these Northwest cats hit the ground running on Disconnecting, their first proper full-length, and rumble forward for a sweaty 30 minutes.
SINKING SHIPS features Danny Hesketh, brother of CHAMPION's Jim Hesketh, and the bloodlines prove to be a worthy starting point, but not much else. SINKING SHIPS have an ominous tone to their music that crosses paths with the stompin' power of contemporaries BANE and former Northwest veterans STAY GOLD. At times, Disconnecting feels like speed over skill, but whenever it seems like the album is about to lose an axle, a moment of restraint pulls it back down to the surface. "The Days You've Come To Fear," is the most jarring of the 12 tracks, and the last couple of lines to the song linger like the smell of raw chicken rotting in summer heat. "These are the days you have come to fear. You have to fight before this world breaks you down. Before this world takes hold and drives you into the ground, six feet of difference between the days we spent and the way we wish things could have been."
Disconnecting is replete with strong lyrics and even stronger guitar playing. With a nice touch of a melody, the buzzing guitars sweep with momentum and singe with intensity. SINKING SHIPS have a little bit of showmanship in them too, as displayed on the epic closer "Wait," which is easily in the running for "best closing song of the year." On the surface, the final words, "Still out of breath again. Out of words again. Trying to explain everything, but I can't say anything" doesn't seem all that special, but Hesketh's delivery is a total knockout. It's easy to get lost among all of the great Northwest hardcore bands tearing things up these days, and as some of the shining ones leave us (CHAMPION, BLUE MONDAY), it's comforting to know that a new crop of killers like SINKING SHIPS and their partners in crime, SHOOK ONES, keep the torch burning.
