It’s been a while since a real intelligent art punk band has emerged from the sewers of the dying underground. With the up-and-coming return of pop punk hitting the mainstream (knocking cry baby bullshit emo bands out of the tear-filled water), it’s almost hard to understand why any artist in their right mind would want to try and handle such a quickly burning torch. Enter Castevet and their debut album Summer Fences. Now we’re talking. Break out the acoustic guitars, PBR, and lack of self respect. …

Annabell’s first full-length album, Each and Everyone, is, for lack of a better word, a doozy. It might be what you’d expect from Midwestern emo kids, and it is mainly more of the same songs and sounds as heard on their self released debut EP – but it’s also got so, so much more. What is it exactly? That’s a tough one. Killer drum lines are a definite. Maybe a greater sense of self confidence, too. These things are a great start.

Influenced by late 90s emo, prior to its mass popularization, Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) brings back the genre’s best traits. Lacking the whiny “pity me, I’m depressed” elements of what would soon follow, this band reaches back to the greats like Appleseed Cast in their early days and, in particular, Mineral. This is all readily available information; true to the genre, they wear their influences on their sleeves. Like these influences, the instrumentation is a fairly low-key rendition of highly melodic post-shoegaze mixed with flat, …