Recently Rockfreaks was sent a huge pile of indie releases for review, all of them sounding very similar on first listen, and hence yours truly quickly found himself in a stressed effort to find the most promising of them and sign up for their reviews. Thankfully my hasty efforts paid of at least in one case, and that case would be that of Joie De Vivre's "Summer Months EP".
You see this record is 100% emo. Proper emo that is, oldschool emo, not the faux-emo haircut pop peddled to the masses these days. No my friends, this band loyally references all the classic names of the days were emo was about dressing badly, wearing ugly glasses and being completely depressed. You know, before it was mistaken for glam. Think of bands like Mineral or Sunny Day Real Estate, or if you aren't that familiar with the genre's roots, then of Jimmy Eat World's older songs, like for instance "Goodbye Sky Harbour". That's pretty much exactly what Joie De Vivre sound like.
Relatively long songs float away in slow tempos, lead by warm and vibrant guitar lines, while the singing is exactly the kind of rough and passionate as is synonymous with classic emo. Though some would be prone to find it a bit whiny and exaggerated maybe, hopefully most will recognize it as the revival of a classic sound that has long been absent from the scene of music.
This newfound emo sound is the dominating quality of this band, and while it's highly enjoyable to listen to, it must be noted that this is still a young band, and the loose arrangements of their chosen style has made it hard for them to pen songs that truly strike you and cling to your memory. However, this does only little to deduct from the quality of the joyful listening experience that "Summer Months EP" is. While not overwhelmingly awesome, it is surely something any fan of true emo should be checking out.
[7]
Download: Magnet, Handshakes
For The Fans Of: Mineral, Sunny Day Real Estate, early Jimmy Eat World,
Listen: myspace.com/joiedevivreband
Release Date: March 2009
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