by Forrest Culotta (6/8/15)
Itâs been a good year for the so-called âemo revivalâ. At one end of the spectrum weâve seen new indie outfits like Runaway Brother and The Hotelier channeling the spirit of Max Bemis on their heart-on-your-sleeve debuts; on the other side of things, established emo rockers like Taking Back Sunday and The Used are now ditching major labels like Warner Brothers, who were piling the last bit of dirt on top of a dead and buried scene, in favor of smaller labels like Hopeless Records, who are committed to digging them out.
In keeping with the true nature of any alternative scene, denying the existence of the scene itself is a large part of the whole thing. After all, the first qualification of being a hipster is denying that you are one. Taking Back Sunday frontman Adam Lazzara described the idea of an emo-revival as âridiculousâ in an MTV interview earlier this year; but then there are bands like Canterburyâs Moose Blood, who couldnât be happier to be leading the charge of emoâs resurrection. âEmo is a clubâ, they proudly boast on their social media pages, and if this is so, then the UK emo-revivalists have found another member to pin with this badge of honor in their fellow British rockers War Waves, who released their self-titled debut this past May.
Hailing from Ipswich, UK, War Waves are, whether they know it or not â or even like it or not, the embodiment of this kiss of life into what is in danger of becoming an almost exclusively cult scene. Songwriter Marc Newby checks off all the essential proverbial boxes on the admittance form of Moose Bloodâs club:
Apologetic songs veiled by angst and fear, self-deprecating metaphors (file under: Brand New), in-song references to their favorite bands (in one of the albumâs highlights, Shortstop, Newby reflects, âAnd I was singing Gaslight far too loudâ), and perhaps the most important requirement of all: a deep-seeded appreciation for Morrissey, which bleeds through the bandâs songwriting from the first line of the record (âYoung cunts with their conversations, keeping me uptight with skinny clothes. Iâll be fucked if youâre becoming one of those.â) to the last. Making your influences well-known from the get-go has always been a staple of emo music, whether by name-dropping New Found Glory or by making your song title a paragraph-long excerpt from Nick Hornbyâs novel High Fidelity, and War Waves are no exception. Itâs the double edged sword that makes the genre appear derivative to outsiders, while culturally literate to members of the club.
Much like Moose Bloodâs Iâll Keep You In Mind, From Time to Time, Newby seems to have written this album for one person in particular. Itâs a personal letter to someone that weâve been given the privilege to read. At times the record feels like an attack, and at others, an apology; in all likelihood, he isnât quite sure which it is himself; yet, the best art is often born of conflicted feelings, rather than certainty. Itâs a brave thing to paint oneâs self honestly, as he sings in the albumâs closing track Megamouth, âIâve devalued countless girls and Iâll do it againâ; knowing what you are and knowing that you canât change it is a dark prospect, but this isnât 5 Seconds of Summer, and happy endings arenât always in the cards. This is what the genre needs: a bit of honesty floating in a sea of ghost-written, bastardized summer soundtracks.
From a production standpoint, War Wavesâ debut falls in line with their contemporariesâ recent efforts. Itâs not particularly polished, yet it doesnât need to be, and might even benefit from being a little rough around the edges. There is a fine line between rejecting a pop sound in favor of maintaining artistic integrity and shooting for a sound appropriate to your station, and if War Waves has a DIY vibe to their sound, this is likely just indicative of where bands of the genre are coming from these days. The age of Fueled by Ramen sending Pete Wentz to pluck bands from the garage and boost them to instant stardom is long past. War Waves are self-made, and this is hopefully just the beginning, and a promising one at that.
Whether or not Moose Blood and company can actually save emo, if you count yourself a member of the club, you cannot afford to miss War Waves self-titled debut. Whether they consider themselves part of the emo revival, all the staples are present: crashing guitar crescendos that donât sound like theyâve been multi-tracked to death, homages to bands you may or may not have heard of, and a personal touch that is both sad yet uplifting at the same time. In Megamouth, Newby asks, âDonât you think that its more about progress than settling in?â Â War Waves feel like theyâre settling in just fine, which is a sort of progress in itself if it means helping keep alive such a well-loved genre. At the height of its popularity, emo was a predominantly American phenomenon; yet this time around, at least for War Waves, its âJude Law and a Semester at Homeâ.
Favorite Track: Shortstop
War Waves is available on iTunes and at www.backwaterrecords.com
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