Disconnecting＜限定盤/Opaque Gray Eco-Vinyl＞

If the band name and album title didn't already trumpet "Danger! Mopey emo kids!," the Joy Division-like cover design of the Sinking Ships' second full-length album certainly would be a big ol' clue that there is little fun to be mined from these tunes. To their credit, the quintet tend to do their dissatisfied pouting at a fairly high bpm, and singer Danny Hesketh (brother of Jim Hesketh, singer in the exceedingly similar Champion) stays clear of the aggrieved whimper that so often passes for a vocal style in this genre. The songs themselves also avoid the plodding, proggy showcases of technical ability in hammer-on guitar solos or tricky time-signature changes that have crept into the artsier end of emo. The problem, finally, is that although the Sinking Ships do what they do fairly well, Disconnecting is depressingly slim on personality. Neither Hesketh's angsty lyrics nor the heard-it-before hardcore riffs are particularly memorable, making the album strictly for the genre completists. ~ Stewart Mason