From Sinking...sinks

Today's random profile is Orange County, NY rockers From Sinking. Members Jay, Tommy, Dennis, and Jayrand, explain in their Billboard (Purevolume's response to an "about me" section) that "We're just 4 guys doing the best we can. We promise to put forward everything we have, if you promise to listen." I promised to listen, and unfortunately the end result was me wanting to break that promise.

From Sinking has three songs available in their profile, all of which come from their album "That Sinking Feeling." I kicked off my listening venture with the song "Five Nineteen Oh Four," mainly because mysterious song titles intrigue me. The intro consisted of a sweaty guitar riff joined by rather tight drumming. At first my ears thought, "Hey, this is almost catchy."

Then came the vocals. My immediate impression was, "What an offsetting cocktail of weak lungs and clogged nasal passages!" Lucky for the band, I usually enjoy voices that are not conventionally pleasing to the ear so I agreed to still give the song a chance.

The song continued with spurts of clean drumming and a few bars of expected clapping. The mediocre vocals ended up killing the song for me. I kept praying that maybe the vocalist would reach for a little more air with each belted lyric.

Next came "Turn on Your Skell-a-vision." I was interested to find out what the concept skell-a-vision entailed, so I listened intently for lyrics. I felt pretty underwhelmed after the first two minutes, what with only a lengthy Metallica-esque intro to rouse my spirit.

When the vocals began, I had already lost interest in whatever else they wanted to offer me in the song. The vocalist forced out lyrics I tried to decode with no success because of the ragged screaming that blanketed what could be heard of the vocals. Needless to say, round two with From Sinking did not do much for me.

Third time was a charm though! "That Sinking Feeling," the album's title track, was somewhat reminiscent of the band Taking Back Sunday, which definitely perked up my ears.

The melody was contagious, and the guitarist impressed me with how he played off of the initial guitar riff throughout the song. I also appreciated the lyrical content because I could hear it so well. The tune concluded with fading layered vocals and some flutelike synthesizer sounds that were a real treat. I would definitely listen to it again.

Overall, I felt From Sinking put up much less than a good fight to stay afloat. The percussion was the only aspect that was consistently satisfactory. I commend the members on their efforts, but the sub-par level of rock just does not do it for me.

Want to listen? View From Sinking's profile here!

Thank you for reading. Shuffle on.