Album Review: The Appreciation Post- “Work/Sleep”

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In this day and age, finding good music is hard. There are just so many bands to listen to on MySpace. How many times have you found out that the band that claimed to be “for fans of,” turned out to be a total rip off? Do you over indulge yourself in free album downloads, only to find the 35 megabytes you just gave away turned out to be wasted on a band that totally sucks?

Well, hopefully, if you are thinking music fan, you take your time to do some research. MySpace visits and a read through of music reviews aren’t a bad idea before you click “download.”

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me suggest a band to you… Using synth as bait, The Appreciation Post may hook you, reeling your ears into the party they like to call Work/sleep.

Work/sleep is a 7 song EP that leaves no room for error. Starting out with the melodramatic Beating of a Lifetime, The Appreciation Post invites you into their oppression from negative comments. Yet, through all this downward speak, The Appreciation Post doesn’t let their music get affected. Squishy power chords reign free on top of carefully crafted keyboard runs, generating a contrasting dance of both light and dark. It is obvious that The Appreciation Post has a sarcastic outlook…

You may be asking yourself “Well Xan, haven’t you said the same thing before about some other band that can write a good hook? Aren’t I going to listen to the band and be disappointed that they’re just another teenybooper dream?” Well, skeptic, I’m glad you asked that question. No, you wont find the same, overused 1,3,5 chord progression. You see, The Appreciation Post revives the idea of musical construction… Where the verse may be slow and soft, the pre-chorus will build and build, until the chorus finally goes POP and out come the wolves… And this tension keeps you hooked; the pleasurable waiting for things to break (as found on the song No Songs Is Good Songs).

But Work/sleep isn’t all like this. In fact, I lied a little bit. The Appreciation Post does write a straight forward pop(punk) song. Doom And Gloom is reminiscent of The Starting Line, splashed with some Motion City Soundtrack. A cocktail of pure fun. Vocalist/guitarist Jim Keaney sounds like the dude from Innerpartysystem, but with a much more perfected voice. Doom and Gloom is a race-to-the-finish blend of guitar riffs turned chords and a persistent drum-beat that goes “bam” instead of “thump.”

The overall tone of Work/sleep would have to be “making the best out of the bad,” and as cliché’ as it sounds, The Appreciation Post makes it work.

Don’t take my word for it though, download the album for free here.