Two bands leading the new emo revival
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
Do you believe in the new emo revival? Does it matter what we call it? To me, a lot of these bands feel fresh and exciting, like opening a new box of sneakers. The Hotelier and Foxing — two bands playing The Fire on Sunday night — are particularly so, as neither seems interested in front-running the nth wave of some oft-maligned subgenre. Instead, these bands are working on opposite ends of the same spectrum — the spectrum of writing and playing songs that make me want to cry.
Home, Like Noplace Is There (Tiny Engines), The Hotelier’s second LP, is neither elegant nor calcu-lated. Instead, the Worcester, Mass., band borrows from folk-rock, hardcore and straightforward pop then builds on it with guitar wails and sky-high choruses (see: “Among the Wildflowers”). This could’ve found its way onto the radio waves if singer Christian Holden’s lyrics and delivery weren’t so paralyzing. “Life in Drag” blazes like a Southern California brush fire and feels like an exorcism, but just try not to imagine fireworks bursting from some outdoor festival or arena during the final chorus of “Your Deep Rest.” This earns The Hotelier a solid 8 on the Cry-O-Meter.
Foxing is far less pop oriented. The St. Louis quintet’s debut, The Albatross (Triple Crown), is raggedly orchestral, what with its string and horn arrangements, jazz-influenced percussion and gang vocals that lean closer to Gregorian than NYHC. The guitar tones vary from the soft, mid-summer evening rain of “Den Mother” to finger-tapping tantrum on “Bit by a Dead Bee Part 1,” where singer Conor Murphy’s falsetto suddenly devolves into something unexpectedly primal. The Albatross is unique in its stark beauty, and earns Foxing a walloping 9.2 Cry-O-Meter score.
Sun., Aug. 3, 7 p.m., $10-$12, with Prawn and Little Big League, The Fire, 412 W. Girard Ave., 267-671-9298, guildshows.com.
