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Circa Survive

Juturna (2005)
Equal Vision Records

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Contributed by: Brian
(others by this writer | submit your own)

Published on April 26th 2005

There's no question in regards to the powderkeg of talent contained within Circa Survive. The band formed when, after Philadelphia-based This Day Forward dissolved in 2003, guitarist Brendan Ekstrom and drummer Colin Frangicetto started collaborating with Anthony Green, who, on his way back to California to rejoin his former bandmates in Saosin, had a change of heart during a stopover in Phoenix. Green returned home to his native Philadelphia and seems to have finally found a permanent place with his current outfit.

The first track that ever materialized from the post-hardcore outfit is still one of their best, as it showed off many favorable qualities in a band of their genre. With the demo version of "Handshakes At Sunrise," there was a prog-influenced musical landscape that changed from atmospheric and trippy to aggressive on a dime, a melodic and emotional chorus, and the incredibly strong, dynamic vocal work from Green. Unfortuantely, very few tracks on the band's debut full-length replicate that power, and even then, the ones that do ("Act Appalled," "The Great Golden Baby") already appear on Juturna's preceding teaser EP, The Inuit Sessions. The reserved intensity of opener "Holding Someone's Hair Back" and late entry "Oh, Hello" make for strong tracks as well, but there's little rising and falling action in the remaining portions, and the majority of the disc in question ends up acting as moderately enjoyable background music at times, if not altogether dull noise the rest.

Brian McTernan does a solid job at the knobs, helping bring forth the atmospheric qualities that make up the band's standout musical aspect. Green's vocals help keep your interest afloat, no doubt, but without the guitarwork constantly piling on top of each other, rare and appropriate use of acoustics and over-par percussion, Juturna seems rather helpless. Though in the band's defense, they're more than adequate lyrically, as the well-written narratives manage to match the urgency found in the music backing them, elicting a fairly consistent pessimistic attitude while never coming off self-pitying or sympathy seeking.

After months and months of anticipation, I really want to like Juturna, especially in that it continues to express at least a few obvious points: the band is composed of talented individuals striving for something that isn't redundant, clichéd, or forced, even in the lavish artwork presented. However, most of the record seems to lose itself in those very points, and perhaps dwells far too much in a lack of changing paces and varying dynamics for it to be deathly interesting as a whole. Juturna is promising if nothing else, but also vaguely disappointing for all that's at hand.

STREAM
Act Appalled
The Great Golden Baby
In Fear And Faith
Oh, Hello

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tick16 (December 2, 2008)

its an amazing album,so caothic rock reallly good...
sounds pretty sexy too

Silas (September 15, 2007)

The album is constructed amazingly.
Anyone who knows what Anthony Green has come from (i.e. : Jeer At Rome, which I highly recommend) knows that his vocal stylings have come much further than most artists can ever hope to claim with the procession of their releases.
The only complaint I have is that Meet Me In Montauk really makes me hate it when bands try to hard to be different.
I read an interview with Green that said the ten minute or so pause in the song was due to them just wanting to try something completely obscure.
I am sorry. I mean, I am all for the obscurity of some artists, as my own project utilizes the subject, although in a much different way, but complete silence for ten minutes is not art.
"Art is not safe". No, it isn't.
But that doesn't mean it has to be pointless.
Although, I did enjoy the first thirty seconds or so of the actual song in Meet Me In Montauk, as well as the ending, as I have listened to it in it's entirety once.
But only once.

A good overall listen for a lazy afternoons drive on a clouded, rainy day or something to pull you through the vast expanse of darkness on a late night trip.

MyChemicalThursday (June 9, 2007)

yawn

ABedForLiars (September 4, 2006)

I like this album, except alot of the songs sound the same. Sometimes I can't tell the difference between two songs.

IAMTHEMIRROR (May 25, 2006)

Man, you blow your dad off hard don't you Brian.

Go eat a cock. Ya douche.

Anonymous (May 12, 2006)

this score is for the review!
1 million stars for the album!

Anonymous (March 18, 2006)

I dont care what anybody says, this band is awesome and they're my favorite band to listen to when im baked out of my gourd

Anonymous (March 2, 2006)

I beleive that Circa Survive is the best band ever. They have amazing everything.Anthonys voice is organsmic and i LOOVE HIM! anywho who doesnt like them...well sorry your missing out...but everyone has there own opinion!
Look me up on Myspace im all for Anthony

Mrs. Anthony Green
aka
Brittany Jones

Anonymous (February 28, 2006)

I've Tried to listen to this many times but i end up bored out of my mind halfway through the first song.

Anonymous (February 6, 2006)

Circa survive is an awsome band
i love the leadsingers voice!

Anonymous (January 30, 2006)

Circa Survive is really good, but whoever tries to compare them to Pink Floyd is a mental retard. They are good, but once the "scene" trend changes, they will be another flash in the pan.

Anonymous (January 18, 2006)

saosin kicks ass and so does circa survive. i dont care which one i listen to. both are fucking awesome

Anonymous (January 12, 2006)

^^Bury Your Head isn't by Anthony Green. His last song with Saosin was I Can Tell. Bury Your Head was written and recorded with Cove Reber as the singer.
That being said, Circa Survive rocks with Anthony Green, and Saosin is almost unenjoyable now with their new singer.

Anonymous (December 12, 2005)

this is the best piece of music i've ever heard of any band ever.
the reviewer should listen again.

Anonymous (November 8, 2005)

This album sucks. Saosin was awsome. He should go back even now. Best song of his: Bury Your Head. I can't believe he switched. He ruined 2 bands in 1 shot.

stricken (November 4, 2005)

forgot my score.

stricken (November 4, 2005)

listen to this cd on acid and maybe you'll all learn to appreciate it more.

Anonymous (October 12, 2005)

This CD is amazing. One of the most creative albums to come out in this decade. The reviewer is obviously a moron.

Anonymous (September 20, 2005)

thats the worst review i've ever heard. granted music is all about opinion, but i feel circa survive has more depth and song-writing talent than saosin will ever dream of.

Arika (August 12, 2005)

i dont give a fuck what people say about how you cant compare circa survive to saosin because circa survive is fuckin awesome!!!!! I'm not dissin' saosin...but circa survive is just as good...so all you people keep that in mind...
Anthony fuckin rocks in vocals!

whatchokesbegin (August 6, 2005)

Album Score: 10/10

Review Score: 0/10

This is the best album to come out all year. This shit is sad right here.

crazytoledo (July 30, 2005)

The singer in Circa Survive sounds like a girl.

md40_07 (July 30, 2005)

not to shabby, they did a good job of picking Act Appalled as there first single, that is the best song on the CD. And to tell the truth I like these guys more than Saosin.

Anonymous (July 19, 2005)

awesome album.
i love anthony green and his fucking VOICE.
"The Sounds Of Animals Fighting" is my favorite song by circa.

Anonymous (June 27, 2005)

to everyone who doesn't know good music when it slaps them in the face: FUCK OFF! Juturna is an awsome album that shows maturity instead of your typical crying over something or whatever your guys think sounds "good". Anthony Green is awsome and i still think he's amazing even if he quit saosin. Don't get me wrong, i love saosin but who can tell Anthony to go back to saosin to sing because a few people are selfish and retarded? Anyway, everyone whos bashing on CS is stubborn and doesn't appreciate a new taste of music.

Anonymous (June 22, 2005)

for the best Anthony Green check out "The Sound of Animals Fighting"

Anonymous (June 17, 2005)

its a kick ass album but its not Saosin. Anthony Green made a good decision though because Saosin wanted to go the MTV, my chemical romance direction and " FUCK THAT" like Anthony says. hes really great live and Id go gay for him!

ooohhh ya great cd to get laid too!!!

Anonymous (June 17, 2005)

anthony wasnt saosin. sure hes charismatic and can hit really amazingly high notes but youre forgetting everyone else like beau and alex. come on now, saosin has really outstanding drumming and their guitar riffs arnt too shabby.

as for circa survive, i think anthony made the right decision, leaving the screamo/post hardcore cliche. i really dig their prog rock stuff. very creative and soothing. if youre a musician, and listen to the musical construction and talent of a band, circa survive is it. razor sharp guitaring, high strong contra-tenor voice and what not, circa survive have it. You can listen to all the songs without skipping a track. i'm not giving circa survive a 10 because i really like them, im giving them a 10 because they deserve it.

sorry that you scene kids have to be so hardcore and shit that youre blinded and cant realize how talented CS is.

Anonymous (June 15, 2005)

to the poster below-you dipshit, Circa is great I agree, but HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF CAVE IN? dumbass

Barkley

Anonymous (June 5, 2005)

fuck all you circa haters. anthonys voice fits PERFECTLY with this music, melodic guitars. this cd deserves 1000 stars. name a band that sounds like circa? anyone? anyone? yeah, thats what i thought. fuck you. anthony made an awesome decision.

Anonymous (June 3, 2005)

I'm with the other ten reviewers who gave this FIVE stars--it's the album of the year! AGreen's voice may be an acquired taste, who knows? He sounds great to me!

Anonymous (June 2, 2005)

this band is garbage.

their singer's voice is such trash

Anonymous (May 25, 2005)

Alright Juturna is a great album. amazing. it could use some work though. they needed a bit more fast songs. but it find it great. I love This Day Foward ..fucking amazing. and Circa Survive is aswell and Anothony did a good job stickin wit them (even though maybe he should scream just a tad bit more...he only did it like 2 times during the album) So if i could i would have both CS and TDF back any day! and whoever said its the best thing after the break up of Pink Floyd needs to remember how famous Floyd was when it was in its years.

Anonymous (May 25, 2005)

one of.. if not [i]the[/i].. best albums this year.

Anonymous (May 19, 2005)

"Anthonys Voice doesnt fit the music like It did in saosin"

what?? ants voice fits more than perfectly here. even though i love saosin with anthony this album is just so fucking amazing.

i love it!

Anonymous (May 19, 2005)

Awful live?

They sound 10x better live than they do recorded.

Anonymous (May 19, 2005)

Some people will never understand. This is perhaps the best thing since Pink Floyd broke up.

Anonymous (May 10, 2005)

this album is everything amazing.

Anonymous (May 10, 2005)

This is one of the best albums of 2005, without question. The people who don't appreciate this CD should turn in their headphones because they are incapable of recognizing greatness close-up anyway! The main review is so off the mark on this it's not worth reading--punkorg should reassign the CD to a reviewer with more eclectic tastes, or one who recognizes amazing innovation when he hears it. No doubt about it...FIVE STARS!

Anonymous (May 9, 2005)

I expected this to be a lot better.

Anonymous (May 9, 2005)

this album is so boring. i agree with the person who said it's a waste of talent. this day forward was awesome, saosin sucks (but anthony green was awesome), but circa survive is straight boring. the same thing happens over and over again for the entire album. not only that, but i accidentally saw them live, and they were straight awful. bring back this day forward!

Anonymous (May 1, 2005)

I agree with the guy who said that they sound like shit live. I saw them a month and a half ago and they sounded, well, like shit. But the great band was Bear vs. Shark. They kicked ass. And the lead singer looks like he could kick the shit out of all the girlie pants wearin' pansy bands single handed. He was a little gorilla. When are they going to release a new album? I do have Inuit sessions and it isn't bad. But I won't be buying this one till I see it in the used bin.

Anonymous (April 28, 2005)

Bring back Taken! This album is pretty awesome on headphones

moniq (April 28, 2005)

Plain and simple words mixed with feelgood music...I'm so thankful for this one...and it should inspire everyone...

Anonymous (April 28, 2005)

wow, this album works better than xanax. what a waste of talent.

punkcorekid (April 27, 2005)

i'm with the guy that said bring back This Day Forward.

Anonymous (April 27, 2005)

alright, im OBSESSED with saosin and everything that saosin does...however, this album is FAR better than anything saosin ever accomplished....anthony green made a great decision in switching bands, this music is far more technical and far more amazing than anything saosin ever did, if you're guitar player look at saosin then look at these guys, youll know exactly what im talkign about, saosin is the same thign over and over, but still great....this on the other hand is one of best albums that has come out in a LONG time and its something different, dredg/mewithoutyou/circa survive are the only ones doing something different nowadays, this album is amazing and perfect...

Anonymous (April 27, 2005)

i cant believe these people actually think that saosin is better than these guys, thats hilarous.

soulbleed (April 26, 2005)

"mookie's last christmas" was such a fucking cocktease. i heard that song and i cried once i realized there would be no more.

and to the kid who said his vocals suck live, i saw them with story of the year and stutterfly probably like a year and a half ago and it was definitely one of the most amazing things i've ever seen. he sang every note perfectly.

slippy (April 26, 2005)

Bring back This Day Forward!