SONG OF THE DAY: "The Same Mistake" by State Lines

In many ways, State Lines' For the Boats, released last July on Tiny Engines, picks up where Osker's classic Idle Will Kill left off, which I wrote about yesterday. It's not quite punk, not quite emo, not quite indie, but exists somewhere among all those broad, vague genre titles. It is not the sound of a band in the midst of an identity crisis. Rather, it is the sound of a band taking all of its influences and finding common ground between each of them in order to form a strong, cohesive product.

On paper, the Long Island band's second full-length appears to have some undiagnosed attention disorder. One track begins with a sloppy rendition of Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song" (a.k.a. "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire"), while another begins with a full-blown rap verse by guest artist Jovi. Some songs are aggressive, loud, and fast, while others start that way only to slow down, pare down to a single instrument, or even go silent for a few moments, as heard in "Linger" and "Shit for Brains." An acoustic guitar pops up in multiple songs, while the album's second half both opens and closes with full-blown acoustic songs. It was extremely difficult to pick only one song to represent the entire album, because no single song truly does so.

And yet, within all this supposed randomness and chaos, State Lines has found not just order, but brilliance. Singer Jonathan Dmitri can go from rage and anguish to vulnerability and insecurity in a flash. The lyrics speak of hurt both given and received, mistakes made and lessons learned, but also of joy and love. The guitar work is strong and creative, each song truly standing out from the others, yet fitting right in with the album as a whole. Tiny Engines has had a knack lately of putting out powerful, emotive records that push the bounds of all the genres mentioned above, and this album is no exception (see recent albums by Signals Midwest, Save Ends, and Run, Forever for other great examples of this trend).

Well, I wrestled for a while with which song to include with this write-up. I decided on the album's second track, "The Same Mistake," which serves as an introduction to the album after the prologue-esque opener ("For the Boats"). This track includes many of the things I love about this album, which is surprising given its length. It begins softly and slowly, getting even quieter before finally erupting with loud guitars, drums, and backing vocals. The acoustic guitar even pops up for a second there as well! This track sums up the For the Boats as well as any track could, though the album really deserves to be listened to as a whole. But give "The Same Mistake" a shot first so you know what you're in for!