Editors' Picks: Election Day

Brian: If Rochester ever decides to bottle and distribute their water, then Evian and Poland Spring have top serious competition on their hands. Here's yet another musically accomplished act that's risen from various upstate towns, that one included. According to a friend of mine, Election Day (also based out of Syracuse and Oswego) indeed took their name from the Polar Bear Club song of the same name (well, apparently not, but I'm not going to edit this and pretend I never said it). No matter –– the similarities between the two are scarce. Election Day instead play a style of introspective, driving and dynamic hardcore that, while occasionally bearing stark similarities to Sinking Ships both musically and lyrically, seems like a unique entity of its own. With a seriously perfect punch of gang vocal usage and a weird, slight Rites of Spring flair to it all, the band's 2007 demo is top notch. Download it for free here, but if you're impatient, you can stream it at their MySpace page.