When I first heard that Daytrader had been signed to Rise Records, I was a little anxious to hear their debut album due to Rise’s reputation. The previous EP “Last Days of Rome” is something that I listened to quite a bit and really didn’t want the sound to change. However, these doubts were cast aside in the first 15 seconds of Daytrader’s new album “Twelve Days”, set to release on May 8. Bringing a unique sound from Brooklyn, New York, Daytrader has set a pretty high standard for themselves.
One of my favorite things about the last EP were the vocals that had a style of which I had never heard. I was especially pleased to hear that they had been brought back and delivered just as well as they had in the EP. A great showcase of said vocals occurs in the song “After-Image” towards the end. What really gets me is how the singing is always changing and never sounds the same, yet he still keeps the same style.
The guitar players of this band get their moments in “Twelve Years” as well. In the song “Silver Graves”, there is a nice lead guitar in the background that perfectly compliments the singing. Most of the riffing is pretty bland but still goes along well with the rest of the other instruments. The drumming on the other hand is clearly heard and upfront. The drummer holds a perfect beat and is very good at what he does. Usually I’m not one to pay close attention to what’s going on with the drumming but it holds my attention here.
One of my main concerns is that a lot of the songs sound like they came right off of “Last Days of Rome”. There is no noticeable progression which is what a lot of listeners look for. I guess that Daytrader could be establishing their sound with the debut album, but it should be done in a different way than “Last Days of Rome v2”. Some songs towards the middle of the album lose the vibe of the previous songs and sound more like filler songs, but fortunately it picks back up towards the end and finishes strong.
Overall “Twelve Days” is great but not spectacular. It’s a good debut album and really gives the band lots of room to improve and also lets the band make a name for themselves. Some exceptional tracks are “Firebreather”, “After-Image”, the acoustic “Heard It In A Song”, and my personal favorite “Letter To A Former Lover”. Even with it’s flaws, I still give the advice of not missing out on this album.
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