Saosin's self titled major label debut is sure to be a surprise to fans of the band's older material. With Cove Reber on vocals, Saosin sounds more like your average rock radio band than anything even remotely "screamo" related. The music is still somewhat similar to the bands previous material, albeit a bit more on the mid-tempo side of the spectrum.

Listening to the new album, the sound brings to mind a plethora of bands that Saosin now sound similar to. Right from the opening track, influences from bands like Trapt, Trust Company, Hawthorne Heights, AFI, Yellowcard and more are immediately evident. While this may upset a good portion of the bands core fans, it almost guarantees mainstream acceptance and potentially huge sales for Saosin. And with the right push from their new label, Capitol records, there is no reason that Saosin shouldn't see that become a reality.

The bulk of this album is melodic rock, with a total pop song structure. The are a few songs on the album that  have hints of screaming in the backing vocals, including track nine, entitled "Collapse," and track eleven "Bury Your Head". The band stll maintain off-timing, and quirky guitar harmonics. And the guitar work overall isn't entirely devoid of a decent amount of crunch. But the harmonies and melody ultimately make up the majority of the music.

Tracks like "Sleepers" have vocal melodies that were obviously inspired by Trust Company, while other tracks like "It's So Simple" have more of a pop punk oriented AFI feel to them. Other tracks like "Voices" see the band incorporating some amazing melodic breaks, while the song "Some Sense Of Security" closes out the album with short but sweet piano piece.

Saosin, much like Avenged Sevenfold before them, may very well upset a good number of their core fans with this release. It's to be expected though, when a band goes from the ranks of indie labels to a major.Very few bands have managed to maintain the same sound when making the leap from indie status to the majors. The flipside to that is that this record is so catchy, and pop soaked, that it's sure to gain them tons of new fans in the process.

If you're expecting to hear a continuation of the material from the band's "Translating The Name" ep, leave this one alone and pick up something from the likes of Haste The Day or another band along those lines, because you're not going to find it here.