Longitude's The Last Anniversary is a full-length of sprightly, lengthy Midwest emo that should interest fans of this particular revival. Akin to Nines & Sixes-era Mock Orange, Polar Bear Club's demo, or Brooklyn locals the Marine Electric, the band combines a variety of vocal styles–gravelly, wavery, earnest–with deft, slightly noodly guitars.

While the general tone here is more interesting than the songwriting, the album's got its moments. "Cinnamon" integrates a bit of Braid's stop-start chug, while early Minus the Bear gets a nod with the familiar fingertaps of one of Anniversary's catchier tracks, "Lead the Way". "Vodka and Cream" has plenty of nimbly dynamics and a few gang vocal punches to complement the melodies, while playful, Ghosts and Vodka-esque licks lighten up "A Long Trip Down". Instrumental "The Playback Engine" follows that with some surprisingly straight-up, heavy chugging. There's some more strained singing for closer "The Mountain Pass Is Out" that's a sure highlight too.

If there's a major issue with the album, it's that it often feels disjointed and the structure is a little all over the place. One part doesn't lead into the other too naturally. Also, some of the vocals are a bit overly...I can't even designate a proper adjective; particularly, it's the guy who sounds like he'd be in Living with Lions. It makes things a little goofy.

The Last Anniversary isn't the best thing to come out of this "scene", but it's far, far from terrible. Or even outright bad. Longitude have a lot of good ideas that manage to play out decently here, and while their songwriting could use some tinkering, they've managed a solid entry with this album.

STREAM
The Last Anniversary