Emanuel

Soundtrack To A Headrush (2005)

Brian Shultz

Listen up motherfuckers, this is that new unheard of, unspoken, so if you're down, then get down, and if you're not, then get the fuck out!

What if we're just really indifferent?

Emanuel may very well be the first band I've heard to come off like a cross between a poor man's Bronx and a rich man's Senses Fail. That is, to say, the band treads some newfound middle ground between balls-out, throat-ripping rock and the usually repulsive tendencies of melodic nü-screamo; only, they raise the former's accessibility and improve upon the faults of the latter.

After the abovementioned intro - lactating worse than post-labor cattle - we dive into "The Hey Man!," verses containing studio-tricked out screams and a chorus of the super-melodic variety…and you've pretty much got the formula for most of the album. It is, however, pretty explosive and dynamic, as is Its follower, "Buy American Machines." The choruses are all pretty much contemporary fare, but they are in the least fairly infectious and energetic; I'm reminded a lot of Dead Poetic's New Medicines at times, in that sense, especially with a few solid offerings of core-induced rock. Still, most of the album suffers from relatively sub-par songwriting and bland structure, offering interesting moments far and few between. I'd say the standout track is probably the last; "Dislocated" slows things down a bit to shut out the disc, completely screamless and a bit more emotional (for the band and their subsequent sound, anyway). As far as lyrical content goes, I've seen reviews here and there that claim undertones of sexism, but it really isn't anything serious. More or less it's the same silly though unintentional chauvinist attitude leaking from most of their peers.

Plagued by mediocrity via a mildly awkward hybrid of the abovegiven sounds, Emanuel's debut is well-produced and musically competent but sparse in staying power in terms of its presence in your CD player and, if they can't find ways to improve, the physical aspect too.

MP3s
The Hey Man [clip]
The Willing
STREAM
Buy American Machines
The Hotline
The New Violence