Category Archives for Emo

Pity Sex – “Feast of Love”

(Photo Credit: Brooklyn Vegan)

Grade: B-

Key Tracks: “Wind Up,” “Fold”

“Feast of Love” is the full-length debut for the hyped lo-fi band. The quartet plays a shoegaze-inspired band of emo. The album is equal parts alt-pop, emo and traditional shoegaze walls of sound. Sonically, despite the creative blending of genres, the album could use for some expansion. It is only twenty-seven minutes long but it feels a little tiring. Part of it is the shoegaze itself, it as a genre can often tire and frustrate the listener in the best possible ways. But part of it is a lack of individuality amongst the songs. The album feels like one drawn-out idea, and that’s generally what an individual shoegaze song is to start with, so a full album of similar ideas gets really bogged down. Still, it is a creative blending of genres and is it at times challenging and staggeringly original.

The lyrics are often tough to decipher, which is pretty characteristic of shoegaze (Godspeed You! Black Emperor did away with them entirely). This recent revival of lo-fi emo groups is often accompanied by poetic lyrics that are almost too easy to relate to, that result in heart-wrenching songs. Pity Sex is no different, with some great, poetic lyricism happening. Unfortunately, some of it is buried under walls of guitar.

“Feast of Love” has its faults, but it shows promise as a debut. It is tedious but creative, and is definitely worth a listen for people intrigued by the lo-fi emo revival and shoegaze. Pity Sex is currently on tour with two of the best young bands in America today, Dads and The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die.

If you like this, try: The aforementioned bands, or check out the work done by the bands Teen Suicide and Julia Brown for something wickedly lo-fi.

-By Andrew McNally

 

The World is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die – “Whenever, If Ever”

Photo Credit: Top Shelf Records

Photo Credit: Top Shelf Records

Grade: B+

Key Tracks: “Picture of a Tree That Doesn’t Look Okay,” “You Will Never Go To Space,” “Ultimate Steve”

The band trying to claim their prize for current longest name have released their full-length debut on the glorious Top Shelf Records. The band – often abbreviated, or called “The World Is” for short – is a six-piece from Connecticut. They differ from Top Shelf’s normal bands, who fall under the umbrella term of ‘modern emo’ (here’s looking at you, Snowing). They are definitely a modern emo band, but one that is even more original than their label-mates. Their first EP’s, “Formlessness” and “Josh Is Dead,” were four and three tracks, respectively. But in those three tracks the band established themselves as one that was not afraid to play around with lo-fi influences that can also include group choruses and screaming intensity.

Those previous EP’s showed that The World Is was not afraid of recording a quiet and toned-down piece that builds to a big and loud payoff later on the album. While bands will often do this in a song (think: nearly every Sonic Youth song), The World Is does it as arcs. Two songs might be separate ideas that contribute to a booming climax a song later. It’s all very unique and often very wrenching. Their first full-length, though, suffers from too much build-up and not enough pay-off.

That is not to say the album is not good. It’s great, it’s absolutely great. Even in it’s outwardly subdued moments, the band can easily create an uneasy feeling, a sense that something is not right. They competently do this in every one of the album’s ten songs. This is what emo sounds like now, inspired equally by shoegaze, experimentation, other current emo bands, and probably suburban CT life. The World Is is one of my favorite bands out there now, they’re pioneering a wholly new sound. “Whenever, If Ever” just needs one or two more pay-offs of screaming vocals to separate the quiet moments. Still, this album is unique. It has its faults, but it is extraordinarily original. And at the end of the day, a band making some faulty quests into new territory is largely better than one sticking around in familiar territory.

If you like this, try: Their old EP’s, mentioned above. All are available on Spotify and Bandcamp. Alternately, “Fun” by Algernon Cadwallader or “I Could Do Whatever I Wanted If I Wanted” by Snowing. Check out every band on Top Shelf Records, if you’re truly interested.

-By Andrew McNally

The Front Bottoms – “Talon of the Hawk”

(Photo credit: Property of Zack)

(Photo credit: Property of Zack)

Grade: C-

Key Track: “Twin-Size Mattress”

If you’ve never heard the Front Bottoms’ 2011 self-titled debut, then you might see this, their sophomore album, as a pretty unique blend of borderline-spoken word poetry, acoustic guitar, and beating drums. When this album was leaked by the band, however, the reaction was tepid. “The Front Bottoms” is one of my favorite albums, probably in my top five of all-time. A lot of my friends and I love this band dearly (I’ve even made friends because of mutual love for this band). On the opening chords of “Au Revoir,” a letdown was already starting. Bands often have their sophomore albums suffer from a bland rehashing of their debuts, and the Front Bottoms are no different.

The band – a duo in the studio – created a wholly original type of music on their first album, which is continued here. I can only call it “alt-emo folk-pop.” Their songs rarely feature anything more than acoustic guitar, drums and vocals that are barely sung, yet the band has a taste for making their music seem like it is always about to fly off the rails; like the musicians are about to lose control of their own song (For the best example, look up “The Beers,” their fastest and best song). The lyrics jump from sad poetry to non-described personal experiences frequently, even mid-line. And the poetic lines are often poignant, even ‘cutesy,’ still hitting the listener in the gut harder than they should.

But “Talon of the Hawk” is distinctly lacking. The lyrics are significantly cornier. They feels less poetic and more lame and forced, and the vocal delivery is not as random, with the verses formed into actual rhythmic lines. Musically, the band has never been proficient, as it is not their focus, but they are even less so here. The tracks on their first album are all instinctively catchy. On the second, they are almost all forgettable. Even the production quality, pristine, admittedly, feels better than it should. To their fans, the Front Bottoms are two goofy guys unaware of their own growing popularity, which does not come through on “Talon”s very professional recording style. The album’s only redeeming song is “Twin-Size Mattress,” both lyrically and musically strong. (The song is the album’s leadoff single. A video was recorded which, had I been standing ten feet to the right at a recent NYC show, I would’ve been in)

The album is dividing Front Bottoms fans. Some love it, some are left with a bad taste in their mouths. It is a serious decline from their first album in every way. Those previously unassociated with the band might find it much more intriguing and entertaining than those who ate up their debut. Reactions to pieces of work are, of course, subjective, but they are even more so with “Talon of the Hawk”

-Andrew McNally

30 Seconds to Mars – “Love Lust Faith + Dreams”

30 Seconds to Mars

Grade: C

Best Tracks: “Pyres of Varanasi,” “Northern Lights”

30 Seconds to Mars have never been ones to please the critics, with their often corny and awkward pairings of genres, and at most points, their fourth album never strays too far beyond that. Bandleader Jared Leto has always embraced the corniness of his lyrics and the music of his backing band. “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” feels no less cheesy or misguided than their previous efforts.

Lyrically, Leto’s meandering musings on the vague concepts can be summed up in the album’s title. The album is split thematically into four segments, each word in the album’s title. While Leto does stretch deeper and darker than his previous albums, a majority of the metaphors presented here are still largely depthless. The ‘faith’ section in particular is largely void of originality.

Musically, however, I have to applaud 30 Seconds to Mars. For a band that has never been very respected, they do find ways to reinvent themselves. The then-popular pop-emo brand of their second album was quite a different sound than their industrial-based debut. This album is louder, more experimental and electronic based, a sharp change from their vocally loud and musically quiet, unstructured third album “This Is War.” “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” sounds, at points, like a band too heavily inspired by Muse but more inventive. It also, at points, resembles a band that enjoyed the “Inception” soundtrack far more than they should have. But I was actually impressed by the music of this album. The more experimental nature diversified the individual songs more than their previous efforts. The ‘dream’ sequence is musically effective, introduced by “Convergence,” although the whole segment seems to build to a largely unsatisfactory ending.

I would wager to say that this is 30 Seconds to Mars’ best album, but I would not go out of the way to recommend it. Musically strong but lyrically, the band is still flailing in their typically cheesy nature, grasping at large concepts and ideas but rarely hitting the mark with any depth. 30 Seconds to Mars fans will surely love it, and they might even gain some new fans. “Love Lust Faith + Dreams” is not going to down as one of the year’s best, but it is a reasonable listen for general fans of the band.

-Andrew McNally