Let me get a couple biases out of the way real quick.
1. Emo is one of the dumbest/laziest subgenres of them all. Every damn band in existence could be classified as emo, including “cry in your beer” country garbage.
2. Rex (guitarist extraordinaire) is a friend of mine, so I will not say anything nice about his amazing technique nor point you to the intro of “shoot” (below) for a taste of his brilliance.
Melancholy Club is a four-piece band out of Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah. They surprise-released their latest album, thank god for you, the other night, hoping to get as many ears as possible on it before their set at SLC’s indie-rock-palooza known as Kilby Block Party. Their set is Friday at 11:45am on the Desert Stage, by the way. Don’t miss them!
As I listened to the album on my way home from work, it brought back memories of my first exposure to Cursive and my discovery of Jade Tree Records in the late 90s. The noodley, two-hand tapping guitar work; jazzy drumming; and vocalist Tanner’s falsetto building into ferocious screams—thank god for you—would fit nicely in the Jade Tree lineup of yesteryear, next to bands like Challenger, Cap’n Jazz, The Promise Ring, and onelinedrawing to name a few. Check out the killer drum intro with the sneaky double-kick on “galaxy” and the burner “my own problem” below for a taste.
thank god for you is out now and available on their Bandcamp page. I highly recommend it. Enjoy.