Sign - Thank God For Silence

  by Andrew Carver

published: 28 / 5 / 2006

---

Review

Ever once in a while a genuinely surprising album appears in my mailbox – in this case, the surprise is that Sign’s ‘Thank God For Silence’ wasn’t misdirected from the offices of glossy music magazine 'AP' or 'Kerrang'. Yes folks, not all Icelandic musicians are weird pixie divas or atmospheric gnomes - Sign blends yearning vocals, hard rock with metallic overtones and vaguely emo lyrics for a sound that seems calculated to tickle the fancy of moody, rock-loving teenagers the world over. The band’s chunky guitar riffs, a thudding rhythm section and singer-guitarist prodigy Zolberg’s youthful, slightly whiny voice are complemented by glossy harmonies and a production so shiny you can eat porramatur off it. That Zolberg looks like he was born to be a Tigerbeat centerfold can only woo more fans. This is the album you get for the friend who’s always going on about the Darkness, or who finds the Backyard Babies a bit too “street” for their tastes. If Sign had come along 20 years ago, the kids who were buying Skid Row, Motley Crue and Whitesnake albums would have been picking up this album as well (though in deference to changing tastes, it must be said that Sign at its heaviest is quite a bit crunchier than those bands). I expect Sign to be a raging success – they will certainly make Top 40 radio a lot more tolerable when/if they do – but the truth is they’re aimed at an audience far younger and more attuned to the musical mainstream than I am.

Track Listing:-

1 Lift Me Up
2 A Little Bit
3 Love to Be Loved
4 Breathe
5 What You Don't Know
6 Thank God for Silence
7 So Pretty
8 When Demons Win
10 Never Stop Rockin'