Not much goes on in my town of Sarasota, FL. True, we have fantastic beaches and some great places to eat, but the music scene is a little, well, under-developed I guess you could say. That being said, I was very excited to find and review a band that comes right out of my city, was eager to spend some time with Sound We Sleep’s first full length release Keeping Secrets. Released earlier this year, I just happened to stumble upon them this week and liked what I heard so thought I would spread the word.

Sharing the stage with some well known acts (LoveHateHero and A Skylit Drive), Sound We Sleep are doing anything but waiting to be heard. They are making ground for themselves in the musical community and working very hard to get the credit they deserve. This rock outfit has a great sound, and seeing as they have only been playing together since 2008, it’s safe to say they know what they’re doing. They are a young band but seem to be already perfecting the recipe for some decent tunage. Although they are treading ground in a ever-growing and overcrowded genre, I feel as though they have a quality to their sound that will help them stand out. They could be a force to be reckoned with if they keep up the hard work.

After spinning their record a few times, I won’t lie. I caught myself bouncing my head along with many of the tracks. They just have a carefree, rock-your-face-and-get-you-dancing kind of style that you can’t help but get into. Singer Dave Del Vecchio delivers great vocals throughout the album. At times, his voice sounded a lot like Shane Told (Silverstein) to me. He never went as heavy as Shane would have, but his melodies were very similar and I liked that comparison since I am a big fan of Silverstein. Anthony Petralia and Terrence Donnelly carry some great guitar tracks along the way. And the rhythm section, carried by Danny Garbauskas and Josh Imel, helps to keep the pace and complete a great line-up of talented musicians.

The whole record is a good listen, but I would like to take a second and mention a couple of stand-out tracks. For starters, their opener “A Life Apart” offers up some killer driving guitar riffs, and the vocals in this track are captivating and huge. I must say, it’s a very catchy song that is sure to get your head bouncing and have you singing along in no time. “She Was Disarming” carries a lot of the same qualities as their opener. It’s fast-paced with big melodies and a great energy. Then we slow it down a bit with “Facing Myself,” which is a nice acoustic ballad that offers up lyrics that we all can’t help but relate to. Finally, their closer “Deception” comes at you with a wicked ass guitar track that is extremely infectious. They don’t short you on big melodies and catchy choruses in this song…or in any of their songs for that matter.

Overall, this record was very well done, extremely catchy, and upbeat. They started with high-energy and kept that momentum through the entire CD. Some might say these guys are cliche’ and that they sound like every other emo rock band out there. But as you well know, I am not afraid to call those bands out, so if that were the case, I’d be the first to call them out. If they bored me with copycat riffs and cookie cutter vocals, I would indeed inform you. But the fact is Sound We Sleep have something that sets them apart from the rest, and fans of A Skylit Drive and Love Hate Hero will find this five piece right in their wheelhouse. If you have an ear for good, high energy rock music, check ‘em out. You can download their album for free at Purevolume. Give these boys a listen, because you might be surprised at what you hear. I know I was. Good job guys! Keep doing what you’re doing!

4.0/5