Close Your Eyes - Line In The Sand

I wasn't sure we'd ever see a third record from Close Your Eyes. After Shane Raymond left and Mike Sawyer's brief two month stint as vocalist, it looked liked Close Your Eyes was finished. But the band returned with Sam Robinson on vocals and finally we have Line In the Sand.

It's hard to not listen to Line In the Sand and feel a little sad that Raymond isn't handling the vocal duties anymore. But Robinson does a great job.

Stylistically, Close Your Eyes is still Close Your Eyes. Although instead of punk influence hardcore, Close Your Eyes is more hardcore influenced punk. While the band has always walked the line between old school hardcore and punk, they certainly lean more towards the punk side now. And there are new wrinkles thrown in.

Frame and Glass is a straight up rock ballad. It's a little weird among the hardcore/punk the precedes the song. But it's not the only one. Kings of John Payne is a melodic punk ballad. Trends and Phases is somewhere between the two previously mentioned tracks. My Way Home is a sort of hardcore ballad... Similar to Frame and Glass but with more attitude.

That's not meant as a negative. Just a statement that Close Your Eyes is slowly moving in a different direction. Line In the Sand is full of great hardcore/punk songs. Burdened By Hope, Days of Youth, Sleeping Giant, The End, and Skeletons are all killer hardcore/punk songs that will get circle pits moving and kids picking up the change. Line In the Sand still feels like it fits in Close Your Eyes discography.

Line In the Sand is a different Close Your Eyes for sure. But the same spirit of the band is still there. There are moments that will takes fans a second to get used to. But Line In the Sand is still full of great hardcore/punk songs. I just wonder where the band will go next...