Silverstein

This Southern Ontario collective takes their name from a mutual admiration of children's author Shel Silverstein. But perhaps they would have been better off calling the band Bishop after former Grade vocalist Kyle Bishop. For if Silverstein is their spiritual influence, Bishop is most definitely their musical one. Borrowing liberally from the Grade handbook, they combine a quasi-metal dual guitar assault with vocals that alternate between screaming and singing — just like Grade, Taking Back Sunday, Thursday and a host of other newer Victory signings except with more songs in 6-8 time. It makes sense, then, that they are on, you guessed it, Victory. But for all their contrivances, Silverstein are not bad players or songwriters, they just need to find a sound of their own — or at least find more variations on the one they have adopted.