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Review: Sleeping With Sirens - Live & Unplugged

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Live & Unplugged is the latest album from Epitaph Records’, Sleeping With Sirens. This album is second acoustic release from the band, but features a twist 2012′s If You Were a Movie, This Would Be Your Soundtrack doesn’t - it’s live, featuring footage from the We Like It Quiet Tour stops in Orlando.

Track one is the throwback “With Ears To See & Eyes To Hear”. The song features fan chatter and sing-along backing Kellin Quinn’s vocals and features a similar instrumental to its previous recordings, except for the occasional variations in drums and with Quinn’s vocals.

“If I’m James Dean, You’re Audrey Hepburn” is the second track, another throwback to 2010. Quinn mentions at the beginning how it was one of the first songs the band had ever written, and this version features a more laid-back, almost “island” feel to it, with slower, more firm guitar rhythms and steady drum patterns. During the bridge at 2:33, listeners can experience the fan nostalgia, with the crowd singing along strongly with Quinn.

“Gold”, which features fan clapping that accompanies the fast acoustic guitar tune, allows for some of the best showing of interchanging vocals between Quinn and the crowd, and “The Strays” sees Quinn’s vocals covering the room. The fast paced guitar strumming and light drum pattern builds into a song that anyone can sing along to.

“This song is about being a dad” is how Quinn introduced “Free Now”. A fan favourite, it is one of the band’s most heartfelt performances on the album, especially when Quinn belts out “Cause this world is the way it is, it’s how we raise our kids”.

“Who Are You Now” is a throwback to 2011′s Let’s Cheers to This and features a steady medium tempo and guitar that sounds quite similar to the track’s original recording. It’s followed by “Go Go Go”, which is quite similar to the original recording found on Madness, and a cover of Sublime’s “Santeria”, which sees Quinn hit extremely high notes and guitarist Jack Fowler performing a solo during the middle of the track.

Dedicated to the fans who attended the We Like It Quiet Tour, “Save Me A Spark” is definitely a lighters-in-the-air track, featuring a beautiful guitar melody and crown vocal ensemble, bringing about another nostalgic moment. Track 10 is Quinn’s cover of the Goo Goo Dolls “Iris”, his most popular cover to date. It’s the most connecting song on Live & Unplugged and features a whole crowd-only singing section around 3:03, the most heard overall.

Closing out the album is one of the band’s most popular songs to date: “If You Can’t Hang”. At the beginning, Quinn recalls coming up with the lyrics while touring around San Francisco and the recording is the first known performance of the song acoustically, something that is pulled off successfully.

Overall, Live & Unplugged is incredibly well done, with similar instrumental techniques and crowd ensembles throughout its tracks. The addition of back stories and behind-the-scenes content elevate it above other acoustic albums, and it can be guaranteed to receive a warm reception from fans.

By Savannah Lee

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