Silvertone Hills | This Paradise (Single)

Family Average: 4/7

Ah, we meet again, Silverstone Hills! We had the pleasure of reviewing the Ontario-based band once before for “The Paperboy”, and now they’re back for more with a fresh new single. They won the family over before, but can they do it again? We brought in a couple of our friends, Rob and Andre (a.k.a. the Big Guns), to throw in their two cents.

Listen along on youtube and read on to see if they have us hooked!

I enjoyed this one. It had a solid beat held onto tight by the bassists grounded and colorful groove, as well as the drummer’s simple, yet effective 16th note rhythm. With all this accompanied by the guitar’s driving chords, the music behind the voice never tries too hard making it fun to jam along to. The lead-man’s vocals were smooth with a grungy crunch accompanying the higher notes like he was forcing them out of his range, which fit perfectly with guitars distortion in the more high-energy moments of the song. This all made the band’s sound feel nice and listener-friendly. I could see them potentially becoming fairly mainstream as it pretty much grabs you right away with tight grooves, a familiar sound, and catchy vocals.

My only critiques are something you see happening a lot in newly emerging rock groups where the song is just too long. The final chorus arrives too late and it’s bridge feels out of place, but it’s also where the vocals really shine so it’s worth sticking around for.

Other than that, since I’ve never listened to these guys before and I think this is a great presentation of the bands sound. I’d like to hear more from them again!

5/7

I thought this track was pretty good. It reminded me of an early 2000’s opening to a crime TV show. But in all the best ways. I couldn’t get much of the lyrics on my multiple listens. The vocals kind of hide behind the instrumentals and turn into almost white noise. But other than that it’s a fun time to listen to in the background and the instrumentals are good.

I think a few people might have already said this but I think the song is a bit repetitive and drags on too long. Either one of those issues, for me, could be okay on their own, but combined it makes those five minutes seem much longer.

All in all this track is really good! And the band has a lot of potential. Keep on trucking.

4/7

Neat to see these fellas again! Have to say I am pretty blown away. I like this song heaps more than their previous entry. It’s a real tight punchy tune. Right off the bat they launch in with this classic disco beat. The kick drum and shiny guitar put your brain right into the mood. I don’t remember having too much to say about the vocals the last time around either, but this new approach is pretty great. The shouty screaming raspy voice gets me going. They do a few fun breakdowns, throughout the song which does well to split up the monotony.

I am not sure if this is the exact meaning of the song (most likely not) but I was getting these images in my mind of some kind of underground cult. I don’t know I think it was that line “The people come around but they will never let you in for free”. Kind of seems like the motivation for some awesome crazy cult. It also helped my minds eye that the title of the song is “This Paradise”. Seems like it would be some thing a cult leader would promise their followers.

Still I am worried it might not have been enough. At almost five minutes it really feels it’s length. Like I said before I really dug what the song was doing. I just kind of wish it was a little more succinct. Still a strong entry, and I can’t wait to see where they go from here.

4/7

A friend of mine would call this a “toooooooon” (a.k.a. “tune” but with more enthusiasm). It’s chock full of jangly instrumentals and a tireless kick drum that had my head-bobbing immediately. And did you catch that foot-stomping bass line? Gorgeous. The gruffer vocals really feed into the looping guitar riffs, adding to the palpable energy of the track. Everything about it is pretty vivacious, and it feels somehow more matured, more honed, than their previous release. In many ways, it felt very ‘90s -- that good, Weezer-ish alt rock that makes you smile and bob along with propelling guitar riffs. At times it even felt Kaiser Chief-y to me, but with a bit of disco and classic rock mixed in. My biggest gripe is that it lacked variation and became somewhat repetitive lyrically, but the instrumentals made up for it. All in, it’s pretty simple in composition, but completely energetic and engaging.

4/7

I dig how the initial music is tame, but then the singer comes in sorta shouting and gives it that extra kick of energy to get my attention. It did get me swaying a bit in my seat. He does a good job with his range, varying up his tone and volume so it’s got more depth to it. I also liked the stereo effect they had with the levels, moving back and forth between my headphones. With the style of music it could have segued into suburban alternative territory but this helps to stick it squarely in rock. I wish there’d been a bit more changeup though. I was surprised whenever the chorus came back around cause I felt like there should be something more in the middle separating them. When making a simple mellow song, this kind of stuff can work to help the listener become easily familiarized with it. But without enough changeups that can make a song lose its edge.

Could have done with shaving a minute or two off the song, but it’s still a solid listen.

4/7