Band: Jamies Elsewhere
Album: Guidebook for Sinners Turned Saints
Genre: Hard Rock/Pop
Label: Victory

Tracks:
1. Life Ain’t Easy When You’re A Mythical Creature
2. I Didn’t Mean To Interrupt…
3. Late Nights
4. The Love Letter Collection
5. The Saint, The Sword, And The Savior
6. The Politics of Knife-Fighting
7. Play Me Something Country
8. That Vicious Vixen With The Beard
9. Sweet Carolina Honey
10. Memories Make Good Company

Victory Records has been around for awhile now, but most would argue they really broke into the public eye witht he early millennium releases by Taking Back Sunday and Thursday. Those discs [Tell All Your Friends from TBS and Full Collapse from Thursday] was the jumping point for the ever growing emo scene that has been taking over underground clubs and top 40 radio with the help of bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy. Jamies Elsewhere, recent signees to the Victory family, are almost a throwback to those days when Victory dominated the emo scene and their debut release, Guidebook for Sinners Turned Saints was suppose to a new cornerstone for this ever-popular scene, but unfortunately, it does little in terms of setting new benchmarks and succeeds and re-iterating cliches that have been around for years.

We’re welcomed to the album with artwork that’s fitting for a something referred to as a guidebook. The songs are referred to as chapters and the liner notes have all the lyrics laid out in a plain text font as if you were reading a book. IT’s fitting, but not too impressive. The album itself begins with, “Life Ain’t Easy When You’re A Mythical Creature,” which perfectly showcases all that Jamies Elsewhere has to offer. From catchy riffs to soaring vocals lined with strong screams. It’s a great starter track as it introduces you to the band, bu it I couldn’t help but feeling like I’d heard it a dozen times before by other bands. The same applies to the second track, “I Didn’t Mean To Interrupt,” which has a more Gatsby’s American Dream feel to it, but still leaves you feeling half excited, half bored by what you’re hearing.

As the album moves along, there’s real strength in, “The Love Letter Collection,” which showcases Jamies Elsewhere really maximizing the use of the sing/scream contrast in a way that works really well. It pulls you in without having to resort to open D breakdowns and repetitious lines. That’s kind of an overall highlight for me with this album, they rarely revert to the typical sing/scream chants and simple breakdowns, but instead craft overly catchy guitar work to keep you going and real hooks as opposed to one liners. The other truly strong track, and my favorite from the album is the slightly more typical, “The Politics of Knife-Fighting,” which may be the heaviest track on the album. The guitar work is ridiculous and the screams are penetrating. This is what I’ve been waiting to hear, but unfortunately it comes on the back half of the album.

“Play Me Something Country,” continues the heavier turn of events with breakdowns and screeching guitar work. Also, as is probably expected, the double bass keeps pounding straight through. As the album continues onward, we find, “Sweet Carolina Honey,” which, vocally, stands out a lot on the album. Never does the band sound tighter than they do on this track, it’s just sad it had to come so late into the disc. That track is followed by the mellow closer, “Memories Make Good Company,” which is underwhelming to say the least, but will surely be a favorite of young teens just getting into this genre.

Production wise, this album has the same beautiful craftsmanship most Victory releases have had as of late. It’s very well done, with no loose or rough sounding clips to be found anywhere. In fact, the production may be one of the driving reasons this band is able to keep your attention for so long because I bet if this were an unsigned act with little funds to produce their ep, this review may have ended about 50% of the way through.

Overall, Jamies Elsewhere is lost in a stream of cliche sounds and uninteresting concepts. Guidebook for Sinners Turned Saints is in no way a bad album, but it just feels like I’ve heard it done a dozen or more times before and few times better than it’s done here. Hopefully, with a little work and a lot of maturity, Jamies Elsewhere will craft a sound much more their own and really find some footing in the ever changing music soundscape we currently live in. However, until that happens, I fear they will just be another faceless band in the sea of the cd collections of various Hot Topic teens.

*Written By: James Shotwell*
GRADE: 4.5/10

• Author
• Recent Posts

James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

Latest posts by James Shotwell (see all)

• 2015’s Most Underrated Films - December 29, 2015
• Passing The Torch: The End Of An Era For UTG - December 1, 2015
• UTG PREMIERE: Before The Streetlights – “Private Browser” - November 26, 2015