08-06-2011

Extremely emergency

Emo records of the day! The Promise Ring's Very Emergency!


1999, Jade Tree
Tracks:
1. Happiness Is All The Rage
2. Emergency! Emergency!
3. The Deep South
4. Happy Hour
5. Things Just Getting Good
6. Living Around
7. Jersey Shore
8. Skips A Beat (Over You)
9. Arms And Danger
10. All Of My Everythings


The Promise Ring is a late-nineties emo band that started as a side project of the Cap'n Jazz vocalist. They are more poppy than anything else, though, definitely on Very Emergency.
This does not mean this isn't an emotional album, or a generic album for that matter. This album is as emotional as it gets, but it contains a lot of the "forgotten emotion": happiness. Music is a means of expressiong your feelings, but people often forget those feelings can absolutely be positive too. The Promise Ring reminds us of that fact. But then again not too that extent that it's overwhelming. No, it's balanced.
Of course, I'm not even sure if I'm right there. Thematically, it isn't obvious to interpret their lyrics. The music, on the other hand, feels naturally joyful. Happiness Is All The Rage gets the story going. Happiness is cool, but you need to overcomesome daily obstacles. The Deep South, for example, is literally exciting when he sings "I think that's exciting.", it has a catchy melody going on and some Beach Boys-ish backing woohs. Same story for Skips A Beat. In other songs, such as Things Just Getting Good, they use a calmer approach, equally inspiring, but less catchy. The last song is a traditionally slower, quieter song, it fits perfect.
So, yeah, this album is full of cool riffs and hooks typical for emo pop music. Great for chorus-singalong. Some details in the songwriting make it that much interesting but overall this album isn't about being clever. It's about great pop music, making you happy, ending up on mixtapes and for opening dances on weddings*.
Voila, check it out if you're into emo, pop punk, punk rock, Piebald, Weezer and Saves The Day.

*That's actually not such a bad idea.

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