Send "Secondhand Serenade " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Absolutepunk |
 Let's be honest - there are tons of us that are lamenting the transition of Dashboard Confessional from solo acoustic act to full-band MTV pop fodder. There is just something particularly natural and disarming about a man who is willing to go up on stage (or into the studio) with little more than a six-string and a set of pipes (broken heart and good looks strongly preferred). For this reason, it is understandable that Dashboard lost quite a bit of listener resonance with its application of glossy sheen. As such, plenty of suitors have come to stake their claims as heir to the neo-emo throne. Ronnie Day is a case that immediately enters the mind, but he was still a little too slick and a great deal less than convincing in his purported emotional battles. It is here that John Vesely, aka Secondhand Serenade, aims to carve out his corner of the market, and on many levels, Awake is a perfect reflection and realization of that goal with his striking Dashboard imitation.For his sound, Secondhand Serenade strips away almost all of the fluff. The premise is kept simple enough, with subtle strums of the acoustic guitar tucked neatly behind Vesely's emotional, borderline whiny vocals. He doesn't bother concerning himself with silly little things like, say, percussion, which is both refreshing and frustrating at the same time. It is bold in that it shows Vesely's belief in the strength of his songs and his abilities, but it leaves a void in some songs that are just begging for a whispering twitch of snare. Instead of drum tracks, Vesely instead relies on liberal vocal layering to create pseudo-hooks in all of his songs. The end result helps to detour the coffee-shop trajectory that Awake travels along, but it also gives a little too much gloss to an otherwise no-frills sound. The worst thing about Secondhand Serenade is the fact that when you are describing their sound, you are not doing it for individual tracks. It's not even close to necessary. A cursory envelope more than covers the entire record's tone, which is fine if you crave uniformity and fear change. However, most of us like at least a little variety between songs. It tends to aid in a little thing we call lasting appeal, after all. No such luck with Secondhand's offerings, as they all color between the narrow set of lines Vesely draws up for himself. There are tiny amounts of variation, but still nothing remotely substantial. Tracks like "Vulnerable" make quiet stabs at hookiness, begging for radio play, but other trip over cringe-worthy lyrics and vastly overcooked song structures. Lines like "I hate this song/ because it was written for you" and "I will share the air I breathe/ I'll give you my heart on a string/ I just don't wanna miss anything" will elicit a grimace from the sappiest of pre-teen emos....full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| Now Secondhand Serenade is prob one of my favorite bands. With his cathcy tunes and the wide range he has with his voice, it sets a situation for great music. Now I downloaded the whole cd so I don't know what order the songs go in. Half Alive - The first song I ever heard from Secondhand Serenade. Prob one of the best songs on the album. the song starts out with his vocals and guitar in the background. The major feat of this song is his vocals and lyrics.(but then again isnt the whole album like that). The song is more or less about him and most likely his wife and how he can't live without her and he needs her. very catchy song. Broken - This song is essentially a slow and melodic song. Obvious. The song starts out with slow guitar, and he slowly eases in his vocals. This is one of those songs that you will always catch yourself singing to yourself with knowing it, even though most of us would never be able to reach his vocal range. The song is mainly about breakup and fixing well fixing whats broken in the relationship. "And time Is all I ask for Time I just need one more day And time You ve been crying too long Time And your tears wrote this song Stay" - I feel that this really makes this song great. It really wraps up the song. And the fact that he overdubbed his voice over this part makes it even better....full text |
| Scenepointblank |
| It wasn’t long ago that a bushy eyebrowed, full-sleeved tattoo sportin’ Christian by the name of Chris Carrabba left his rock band, Further Seems Forever, to embark on nearly overnight emo superstardom under the guise of Dashboard Confessional. About that same time, I gave up on emo. I saw it become a marketing scheme to sell boring records to lackluster children whining about how their life sucks on LiveJournal. Emo died the moment Carrabba started writing songs about hair being everywhere and kissing girls in the rain. Secondhand Serenade is the vehicle that John Vesely uses to write songs about love and more songs about love on top of more songs about love. Awake is so syrupy sweet that it leaves a sick feeling in your bowels as you try and stomach through the twelve acoustic tracks. I hate acoustic songs. I hate it when bands go unplugged. I surely am not a fan of some douchebag from California with perfect hair strumming the six strings and caterwauling such pathetic diatribes about relationships and dating that even The O.C. would leave his songs off their soundtracks. Mr. Vesely has a Mrs. Vesely in his life and I can only assume when he’s singing about sharing the blankets with her and the reason that he was born was to tell her that he loves her. I wish I were making this stuff up. Sure these songs would have been a great wedding present and been done with it. Nevertheless, the rest of us have to listen to guy prattle on about his “amazing wife” because he happened to get a record deal with a label that has a distribution deal through East West....full text |
Secondhand Serenade lyrics Music videoclips
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