Silent League | A Review of Their New Album But You've Always Been the Caretaker

As a band from Brooklyn New York, Silent League stands distinguished from the often roughly depicted city of the band’s base of operations. That is in part because of lead vocalist Justin Russo, closely associated and former member of a psychedelic rock band Mercury Rev. After cutting his teeth with this band, Russo went on to create Silent League, a band that could have been opened up for The Band back in the day. With its delicately woven together list of tracks, But You’ve Always Been the Caretaker is an experiential sort of album. Visceral and complex, the tracks that populate the album stir an oh-so-good kind of feel in the listener that you may become completely swept away in its movements. Currently comprised of five members the band, at least in terms of vocals, sounds similar to Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard repackaged in dreampop/Chamberpop style. Don’t be confused though Silent League is not an EMO band drowning in anguish, the vocals are the only real similarity. This is their third album, the first of which was extremely well received by the music community, though the second never got its American release. But You’ve Always Been the Caretaker is sure to make an impact in the Americas. As a mainly orchestral band, many of the tracks off of the album either lead into or out of extended instrumental portions, adding to the album’s depth and length.