JamisonParker – Sleepwalker

You see, there’s this guy. He’s called Parker. Then, there’s this other guy. His name is Jamison. They are good friends, and one day, decided to form a band. They put their imagination together to create the best band name ever, and came up with the phenomenal name of JamisonParker. Clever isn’t it? Well, anyway, a little while ago they released a short EP to relatively good praise. The EP got the band’s foot in the door before they locked themselves away to write and record their debut full length to be released on the major conglomerate Interscope. When they finally resurfaced, they had in their hands a much more professional album, an album they hoped would throw them to the forefront of the emo scene. That CD was Sleepwalker, and really, it came and went without much fuss – either negative or positive.

You see, Sleepwalker‘s eleven songs are neither here nor there. While the duo seems to know what they are doing, most of the songs seem to miss the mark. Jamison’s lyrics are supposed to be heartfelt and profound, yet he doesn’t feel the need to release them in the booklet, instead you have to search for them on the internet. And once you find them, they really aren’t special. While some of them are moving and semi-inventive, there isn’t really anything too special that makes them stick out in the crowd.

But still, it’s not like the album goes by without any impact because there are some very good songs on it. Songs like Slow Suicide and Here’s Everything I’ve Always Meant To Say seem to contain enough emotion to capture the listener’s attention, especially during the infectious choruses. Oddly enough, the highlight of the entire album comes in the form of Paper, Rock, Scissors, which had already seen the light of day through their EP. This song, although still definitely following the slow emo framework, has enough upbeat and poppy melodies for it to actually become catchy. If only the rest of the songs were this energizing rather then being slow and dragged on.

JamisonParker didn’t do too much damage here on Sleepwalker. But when the most inventive name you can come up with is just both first names slammed together, you kind of know the album won’t be too innovative. For the most part, they seem to just be a Jimmy Eat World Clarity-era wanna be with a few odd bright spots breaking through the skyline.