Despite the album’s name, Los Angeles-based, alt-emo outfit Sad Park has indeed landed on their sound with their upcoming full-length, No More Sound. The band explores familiar DIY styles in hopes of paving their path forward with their first release on Pure Noise Records.
I’ll be honest, heading into this review I had heard the name in various circles but was unfamiliar with Sad Park’s music. This isn’t unusual for a music writer but I find it particularly important here as my first thought with No More Sound was, “this feels like a big step forward.” And after doing some research on their previous work, I think that’s a fair thing to say. This is a mature indie/alt-emo album and frankly, it just sounds really good. It’s no surprise that some big names were involved, most notably Sean Bonnette from the folk punk group AJJ, who produced the album.
Bonnette’s production paired with Pure Noise’s budget allowed Sad Park to really explore their own songwriting complexities. Even if this is your first exposure to the band, as it was for me, you get a sense of their artistic confidence found during the recording of this album. In the lyrics, you’ll hear the melancholy of relatable internal thoughts, struggles from a touring band on the road, the nervousness of simply feeling emotions, and the longing to make the most out of the time we have. It’s an album exploring various universal feelings of just being a human.
Sonically, it’s a lot – and I mean that in a good way. I hear a lot of influences throughout this album, so much that I hesitate to name actual bands with fear that it will mislead the reader. Vocalist/guitarist Graham Steele notes that they have previously tried to sound like FIDLAR and Together Pangea and, yes, I do hear that. But what I love about this album is that it feels like a melting pot of some of the best indie and emo/punk bands of the last few years. There’s even some ska influences toward the end of “ART WILL BE GONE” with a surprise horn section!
Musically, there are a lot of complimenting features on this album but I would be remiss if I didn’t note Steele’s vocals. From track to track, and even throughout specific songs, there are a handful of vocal styles that Steele plays with. There is a familiar gritty rock style, a clean, almost pop-indie style, and even some raspy screams on a few songs. The shift in vocal deliveries is just one method used by Sad Park to reinvent themselves on No More Sound.
And perhaps that’s a good place to leave this review. No More Sound in general is a beautiful reinvention of the many influences that got Sad Park here and I look forward to seeing how they carry this new identity into their future.
No More Sound is out on July 7th. Listen to the latest single, “DEATH,” below:
The Indy Review 
I brought my daughter to see AJJ in Dallas last night; they’re one of her favorite bands. Sad Park was the 2nd opening band for AJJ. I had never heard of Sad Park before. Well, 2 songs into their set, I was going, “Who is this band?! They are f’in fantastic!” She went for AJJ, but I thought Sad Park was the hit of the whole night. I know they’re billed as Alt-Emo, but I feel like they transcend that genre into something more relatable and dare-I-say…FUN! I’m in my late 40’s and loved them. If you haven’t seen them live; you’re missing out. You gotta see them LIVE. Wow! They put on a great show; I lost complete track of time, their set ended before I wanted it to. Hope they stick around for a long long time, as I am looking forward to seeing them again and again.
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Thanks so much for sharing!
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