Haunting Portraits – Smile
Haunting Portraits is an alternative rock band out of Tampa, Florida. I came across the band when they followed the blog’s Instagram page. If they took the time out of their busy schedules to follow the page and check out the material, I’m eager to give them a listen. It’s always great when the band turns out to be worth the listen. This January, Haunting Portraits released their debut EP, Smile.
Smile kicks of with Flamingo Dancing, a song that introduces the listener to the soft vocals and instrumentals that quickly captivate one’s ears. After the second chorus, the band lets their true colors be shown with the introduction of their screaming vocals that highlight their hardcore side. It’s great to see that the band has no trouble merging their hardcore with their soft spoken vocals to produce a unique sound and style. After Flamingo Dancing, Haunting Portraits hits the ground running and doesn’t stop as they flow through the final four songs of the EP.
Flamingo Dancing is followed by Oil Spill. Jaryd Rosenfeld’s (lead vocals/guitar) voice carries through this song. “Young love is a loaded gun” echoes through the chorus as it is paired with the screaming vocals that compliment each other perfectly. Swimming Skulls comes next, and it is by far the most positive and fast paced song on the EP. It has fast tempo and fun sounds similar to that of A Day to Remember and Set Your Goals while still keeping in tone with the style that the band encompasses.
Daffodils and For me, the Sun are the final two songs on Haunting Portrait’s debut EP. Jaryd Rosenfeld’s emotions resonate through the vocals in the chorus of Daffodils. “Lets drink a bottle of apathy, I’m starting to feel a little tipsy, bitch and moan all you please, but at least I can try to be, happy!” The way “happy” is screamed over the awesome instrumentals in this song shows the raw emotion put into the writing and recording of it. For me, the Sun, is the softest song on the EP. While it does not have the sporadic screaming vocals that the rest of the album possesses, the song demonstrates the bands ability to record songs without screaming and still make it sound as great as the rest of the album.
With influences like Underoath, Citizen and Title Fight, Haunting Portraits has everything on their side to continue to grow! Smile has shown that Haunting Portraits is a band that has the potential to do great things for the alternative rock/emo-hardcore genre. As the band continues to mature and evolve, there is no doubt in my mind that they will release music that rocks just as hard as this debut EP!