Welcome to Seahaven.
Boston-based Run For Cover Records has signed some pretty amazing bands (Tigers Jaw, Man Overboard, and Fireworks just to name a few) and provided a launching pad for some of my favorite bands, like This is Hell and Sinking Ships, so it’s no surprise that this piece is focused on a band on that label; a band that rises higher on my list of favorites every time I listen to them.
Seahaven. I just can’t get enough of them. For real. They make me all fuzzy inside, despite how non-happy their lyrics are. The way they arrange the music with the layered vocals featured in nearly every song… It just does all the right things for me. If their music were a lady, it would be the sexy kind that seduces you, drugs you, steals your kidney, and leaves you in a bathtub full of ice, but you would go back to her again and again until all of your organs were gone. The point being, this music makes you crave more of it even if some parts (most parts, really) aren’t all that happy-go-lucky.
The first track, “Plague,” off their first release “Ghost,” was enough to get me hooked, and it does a damn good job of showcasing what the band is all about. In just under 4 minutes you completely understand exactly what Seahaven has to say and how they intend to say it.
It starts off simple enough– a quiet, palm-muted guitar plucking under some gentle vocals. But the inflection on the vocals is what gets you. Every word is straight from the heart, and you can feel it. You can actually feel the emotion behind the words. You feel that this man is worn out, exhausted from sleepless nights of being plagued by nightmares. And then the low end comes in and the sound starts to round out and he continues his story, and you continue to listen because you want to help this man rid himself of these demons. And that’s when he stops talking, and the music cuts out only to come back boosted with dramatics, adding more elements and layers. And just when you start getting into the groove of that jam, it all rings out and a new sound sweeps in.
Driving distorted guitars lead the charge as drums thump with authority, and the vocals that accompany aren’t the heart-felt, emotional pleas for help and understanding. This new rhythm is galloping full speed at your face and it’s angry. Fierce like a wounded animal, growling and gnashing, it’s telling the same story as the melody before it, but you’re being pushed away rather than being asked for help. As suddenly as this new, animalistic entity shows up, it steps back to let the human side back out. The music calms down and so does the voice, but not for long.
And that’s the pattern for the whole song, and the pattern for the band’s entire body of work, although it’s not as drastic as within this 4 minutes. From each verse in a song, and each song to the next, there are these mood swings. It’s all relative, but there are multiple personalities hiding in each song just waiting to spring out and tell you their side of the story. And it all makes for fantastic music. Fantastic music that you should listen to.
About the Author
Corey St Jean Corey is a great dude with a healthy admiration for pop-punk, Pokemon, and classic movies. He also strums guitar, writes words real good occasionally, and has a super gnarly beard.
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