It's always questionable when a band associates with a completely unfamiliar network. Having never heard of any of the bands on the Top Friends list displayed by Your Best Friend on their MySpace page, going into this seemed a risky endeavor. There's a natural distinction to avoid bad music, and groups of unknown acts tend to put up red flags for me.

However, if Your Best Friend is any indication of this group, maybe it'd be wise to invest some time in their best friends, too. The Saginaw, MI quartet's self-titled debut is a surprisingly unique and creative effort that boasts boatloads of potential.

Though Your Best Friend truly don't sound like any one specific band, you might argue that they bear similarities to a more nü-emo Bear vs. Shark, a less hardcore-influenced Jena Berlin and Polar Bear Club's most tender moments.

The band utilizes their dual vocalists well. Both employ certain levels of gruffness and lower pitches, but they often carry a more sentimental earnestness in their delivery. Listen in "Near Perfect Wrists" when they sweetly sing "I will make you proud again (If I could just save myself)" over xylophone plinks and, eventually, piles of distorted guitars to close it.

That open-heart focus is restrained a bit by a pretty creative instrumental bearing. They've got those seemingly mathy, noodly guitars and dynamic production tricks, along with an occasional increase in the general aggression, as subtle as it may be.

Other notable moments include the drop-out and plead of "And I screamed ‘liar'! I screamed ‘liar'!" in "The Path of an Illogical Liar," the desperate promise of "I'll save my soul" in the Gatsbys American Dream-esque "Decimals" and the energetic, riffy "I'm Afraid of Myself and Everything I Haven't Done." The acoustic/electric punches in closer "Aboriri" stand out, too.

Your Best Friend sure takes a few listens to better appreciate its careful lining. But after several rotations, one comes to really see a refreshing honesty and ambition. Your Best Friend aren't exactly firing on every imaginable cylinder here, but the engine's definitely revving promisingly.

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Dear Heavenly Father
Near Perfect Wrists
Aboriri