SoTheySay

Antidote For Irony

[4/5] When musicians completely reveal themselves on an album, it’s hard not to get into it. And on the long-playing follow-up to their self-titled 2005 EP, SoTheySay seem to be doing a serious interpretation of the title Antidote For Irony, tackling deeply personal issues that go well beyond the typical fare of scene politics, inside jokes and high-school heartbreak. When the theme turns to the impending death of a loved one in “In Essence, We Are Falling,” you almost feel guilty for singing along, but the choruses are so intensely emotional, you can’t help yourself. Despite the band’s familiar style, which combines powerhouse guitars with contagious dueling-vocalist hooks, the personality and production (from Panic! At The Disco and the Receiving End Of Sirens knob-turner Matt Squire) demonstrate SoTheySay’s progression from their Taking Back Sunday-clone roots. And when singers/guitarists Joseph Hamilton and David Schroeder belt out in unison, “I don’t think you’re ready to go!” in “The Burden,” you can’t help but be reeled in by their infectious sincerity.
(FEARLESS) Andrew Martin