Emarosa - Emarosa

Emarosa
Emarosa
Rise Records
D+





Don’t kid yourself. To even consider that Emarosa took some sort of step forward in their second full-length since adding scene king Jonny Craig is a joke. Everything about Relativity that you loved - the often progressive nature of the arrangements, the tactful and often delicate songwriting and yes, even Craig’s well-fitting croon - have somehow vanished, save for Craig’s voice. Instead of building on what made Relativity a great album, Emarosa toned down most of the musical wizardry and essentially stuck themselves on repeat for nearly every song. As much of a disappointment as it is a surprise, Emarosa simply just doesn’t cut it this time around.

I find it quite interesting that Emarosa would start off with a vocal solo, mostly due to the fact it seems like Jonny has taken over the direction of this band since the writing and releasing Relativity. I would be perfectly fine with his voice being the spotlight of this album if the music behind it was enticing enough to keep my interest when I get sick of Jonny’s Mariah Carey impersonations. But in pretty much every track, we get toned down guitar parts and less intricacy in the drums. All of those punching impact points in songs like “What’s A Clock Without The Batteries?” and “Set It Off Like Napalm” are really nowhere to be found on this album. The end result? Repetitive, droning arrangements that end up teetering on the edge of complete boredom. Not one track can measure up to what was put out on Relativity. I’d rather they just re-recorded This Is Your Way Out with Craig’s vocals.

As far as I’m concerned, this album might wrangle in some unsuspecting listeners with a more accessible sound, but any artistic worth Emarosa had built for themselves in the past two years is gone. Maybe now that Jonny Craig is back in Dance Gavin Dance, the guys will sense up and write some decent music in all the downtime they are going to have.