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Senses Fail
LET IT ENFOLD YOU
(Vagrant)
Stars graphics

Senses Fail have everything — their New Jersey home, their LA label, their producer Steve Evetts — in common with Saves the Day. Which is a timely development, because Saves the Day have recently taken on what a lot of emo kids seem to view as soft-rock pretensions, and Senses Fail are perfectly positioned to fill the void for the harder, punchier stuff with Let It Enfold You. "Buried a Lie," the first single from their full-length debut, is a punchy, CSI-style tale involving the protagonist’s dead girlfriend. "So let’s play doctor, babe/We’ll operate today," frontman Buddy Nielsen croons, his dreamy melodies belying the grisly subject matter. That song’s hackneyed story line and microphone-swinging video set the tone for the rest of the album, which makes no attempt to rewrite the rock rulebook. Still, Senses Fail are a tight band with more than enough hooks up their sleeve, and the disc never gets boring. On the malicious but catchy "Choke on This," Nielsen sums up his attitude toward romance: "I’d rather hurt someone than hurt myself." He gets more philosophical on the mellow "Slow Dance," which trades rage for empathy. Even when he goes off the melodramatic deep end, this is emo that hits you right where it’s supposed to — in the gut.

(Senses Fail perform next Sunday, October 24 at the Palladium, 261 Main Street in Worcester; call 508-797-9696.)

BY SEAN RICHARDSON


Issue Date: October 15 - 21, 2004
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