Album Review: Streetlight Fire - Architects

Barely fresh from a few spins of Streetlight Fire’s album ‘Architects’ and I have now confidently set outrageously high expectations for these guys. Comrades Josh, Jeff, Keaton, Steven and Erik deliver an intelligent blend of distinctively American-tinged vocal melodies and mature songwriting under the unlikely form of catchy pop-rock songs that land somewhere between American Steel and Bayonets.

'Architects' is a melodic journey full of memorable moments of epic proportions complimented by touching flashes of intimacy, but every second feels emotionally honest and compelling. The best balance is struck on tracks such as 'Prospect Park' and 'Architects' when their pop sensibilities are best transported by grunge-tinged crashing instruments and soaring vocal melodies. As alt. rock songs, they are solid material and yet bear the accessibility of catchy harmonies and infectious drive.

The album is peppered here and there with a few crescendo-structured songs with 'Wolves' and 'Buried', where the songwriting and instrumental work arguably play secondary roles, as it relies much more on the intensity of the vocals. Managing to pull those off is the mark of a great band, and Streetlight Fire seem to require very little effort in nailing them. Certainly, one could note that the band don't showcase much variety in their music but as long as their work is of this quality and depth then it'll be long before they need to boast wider-ranging tracks.

Along with Republic of Wolves, Streetlight Fire now sit firmly within the new exciting contemporary rock scene to emerge from the United States and 'Architects’ is brimming with compelling and mature “indie-punk” gems that’ll shake your hearts. And at their age, it's quite an achievement to get tracks like 'Points' to home in

4.5/5

'Architects' by Streetlight Fire is available now.

Streetlight Fire on Bandcamp, Facebook.

James Berclaz-Lewis