Mini-Album Review - SiM ``LiFE and DEATH``

SiM 『LiFE and DEATH』

Release date: May 2, 2012

GILS-1002

     I had heard of the band SiM before, but I never listened to them. It wasn't until I was wandering around a store in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo and walked past a display of their new Mini-Album, 『LiFE and DEATH』 that I actually heard their music.They had the music video for “AMY” playing, and I liked how it sounded, and they also looked cool. I felt very compelled to get the CD.

     SiM (Silence iz Mine) lists their style as “REGGAE PUNK (STREET PUNK / HARD CORE / SCREAMO meets SKA / REGGAE)” on their website. Well, that pretty much sums up the sound of 『LiFE and DEATH』. It's a very intriguing mix that really works for them. I'll be honest, I have never heard anything like it.

     When I popped in the CD, what I heard was refreshing. At first I didn't know what I was hearing, but I knew that I liked it. I didn't realize it, but SiM is one of the few Japanese bands that writes all their songs in English.

     The song “Get up, Get up” comes up first. It's a hard core song with a soft reggae part. The message in this song is about bettering oneself. To get up and fight against all the things that are holding us back from progress.

     It moves into “Amy”, which has a punk-ska feeling, with a surprising dubstep break (played all by their own instruments). The song is about a young girl and a terrible man. She gets sick of of it, and takes control of the situation. Considering how dark the theme is, it's a rather upbeat song.

     “R.P.G” refers to role-playing game, for those that aren't familiar with such things. It starts with a heavy reggae feel that sublimates into a punk rock song. The song is pretty much about how sometimes we wish we can just cast a spell and change how things are like in a game, alas, life isn't a video game.

     The soft intro to “Happy Home” comes in, filled with mixed emotions. Painful hope. As it moves into the punk-rock part of the song, the singer (MAH) is trying to reach out to children in broken homes, that are abused, neglected, or otherwise mistreated...there is hope. There is a heavy sound in his voice as he pleads with parents to treat their kids with love, and as he hopes for happy homes.

     “Evolution is Solution” is a prime example of the SiM sound (from what I've heard now that I've explored their music a bit more). A mix of reggae and punk gracefully being woven together with deep lyrics. This is a story, it starts out with someone waking up in a white room, and remembering what happened. They are getting experimented on, and they want to go home. There's also a message about how if we work on improving ourselves (evolving), the world itself will improve (evolve).

     The title track “LiFE and DEATH” transitions between soft spacey dubby parts and hard punk rock. The lyrical meaning is up to you to determine. Much like life and death itself, everyone's experiences are different. As such, this song will probably have different meanings to you than to me.

     I would recommend this to anyone who wants to rock out, and try something new.

1. Get Up, Get Up
2. Amy
3. R.P.G
4. Happy Home
5. Evolution is Solution
6. LiFE and DEATH

   
     Check out their website, Twitter, and all that wonderful stuff:
         http://sxixm.com/
         https://twitter.com/SiM_Official

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