SILVERSTEIN’s “Short Songs” Release Gets Track Listing; Three Songs Streaming

From the inbox:

When Hopeless recording artists SILVERSTEIN announced the upcoming release of Short Songs on February 7, 2012 (the 22-track follow-up to their critically-acclaimed album Rescue), they were still in the process of choosing which original songs they would include and which classic punk songs they would cover. With each song clocking in at 90 seconds or less, the appropriately-titled Short Songs is divided into two halves: 11 originals and 11 covers from such seminal bands as Dead Kennedys, Orchid, Gorilla Biscuits, The Promise Ring, NOFX, Green Day and more. “Just with every album we produce, we’re always thinking of the ‘sides’ of a record,” explains drummer Paul Koehler. “In this example, Side A will be the originals, and Side B will be the covers. Each can be listened to as a contained unit, or you can easily play through just as on CD or in your iTunes.”

Produced by Jordan Valeriote who produced Silverstein’s previous releases Rescue and the Transitions EP, the band challenged themselves by thinking of music in a different way. Instead of constructing songs in the standard “three minute plus” format, they cut each song’s time in half and told a story in a compact fashion. “We had some difficulties learning exactly how these songs were played and adapting them to our own abilities (ex. our Orchid cover “Destination: Blood”). Part of this made it a better challenge and definitely opened us up to a lot more playing styles.” The title track “Short Songs” (originally performed by The Dead Kennedys) features guest vocals from Tim McIlrath (Rise Against), Chris #2 (Anti-Flag), Scott Wade (ex-Comeback Kid), Chris Hannah (Propagandhi), Paul Rousseau (Burst & Bloom), Jimmy Stadt (Polar Bear Club), Daniel Tremblay (I Am Committing A Sin), Mike Hranica (The Devil Wears Prada), and Nick Diener (The Swellers). Liam Cormier (Cancer Bats) guests on The Swarm’s “xOn Our Kneesx”.

Pre-orders for Short Songs are up now at the Hopeless store, where the full track listing can be viewed as well.

- Thumbs up to the band and Hopeless for doing something out of left-field that challenges both the band and their fans. A project like this makes me wonder if Silverstein will have any adjustment issues when they go on to write their next full-length and make the move back to more conventional songwriting styles…