Reviews | September 2009 | Sakes Alive!! "Act II" 7" Vinyl

It's known that I'm a sucker for anything that Chris and the guys in Sakes Alive!! gets themselves into and it's been that way since the very start of this band. Their demo "Presents" completey blew me away, the last 7" "Act I" took the band to new heights, and now as "Act II" is finally being released I'm excited, to say the least.
Naturally this act picks up where "Act I" left off. In true, unmistakeable SA!! spirit the quartet literally spews out energy from the first note up until the last. Chris Vandeviver's signature screams are still there, the countless brilliant hooks as well, and as soon as you hear this stuff you'll have no doubt about which band you're listening to. What makes this one different from it's precursor is that it has a more complex feel to it, not complex as in weird or uncomfortable, but as in genuine and epic. Yeah, I did use both "genuine" and "epic" in the review of "Act I" but those are the words that best sums up the sounds of Sakes Alive!!.
The fact that the band is calling these 7-inches "Acts" isn't just a fun thing. Each song is part of something bigger and each release is part of a series and you can really feel it while you listen to this stuff. The great transfers between songs, tempos and sounds are really thought-through and nothing the guys just went into the studio and put on tape. I'm not going into specific songs here, you'll just have to give this one a spin to hear what I'm talking about. You can stream the 7" here, and then make sure to get yourself a copy while they're still around.
"Act II" is an all-out effort, a result of hard work and believeing in what you do.

Record Nerd Notes:
Available on two different colors, 150 copies on white w/ black splatter & 350 copies on yellow. The record is up for pre-order now over at VinylCollective.com