I feel sorry for emo kids these days. Rather than being a certain clique that listens to a certain type of music they have become an entire entity within themselves. What we have in 2006 are a bunch of mopey teenagers with Livejournal accounts, bad haircuts and their mother's cheapest strands of pearls. Instead of being a community of kids that happen to like the same music which they can all relate too, emo kids have become a type of Sesame Street monster that have nothing better to do than complain about their suburban lives or take pictures of boys kissing each other. Emo isn't about music anymore, it has become a status symbol, for better or worse, wherein the kids don't sit in a corner of their room making zines and listening to The Promise Ring. They now sit on computers, take pictures of themselves not looking at cameras in a vain attempt to look deep, sad, and cute all in one shot.
It wasn't too many years ago where emo music was a valid part of the underground indie rock scene with bands being innovative and catchy at the same time. Tons and tons of bands rocked stages with sweater vest and Dickies workpants while their songs made mix-tape after mix-tape. It was an exciting time, albeit cheesy time, where everyone wasn't afraid to show their emotions a little bit as long as it captured the attention of the opposite sex. Gracer thankfully remember these days with their debut album, Voices Travel and then take it one step further by infusing early 2000's emo with modern day adult contemporary artists like Radiohead and Coldplay. Although, Voices Travel is a bit heavy handed in the emo department with it's sappy lyrics, semi-whiny vocals and having a acoustic song to be followed by a piano driven track it all seems to work well for them. It also helps having Kevin Ratter from Elliott handling the knobs. He adds a lot to Voices Travel, giving it a wall of sound type feel with extra drum tracks, some bleeps and bloops from a keyboard/computer, and the before mentioned piano and unplugged moments.
I am happy that there is at least some bands like Gracer that recall the days of emo past although it took awhile to get into Voices Travel because it at times is a bit too sugar sweet vocally and sometimes the music doesn't really have enough oomph behind it to make a lasting impression. If Gracer lays back on the sap and remember that to be an emo rock band you need to rock more often than depend on all the extra sounds that Ratter is piping through the soundboard this could be one hell of a band to contend with in the emo/indie rock circles. Don't get me wrong, Voices Travel is a decent album to own and listen to while at work or doing some homework but don't expect to be floored if you listened to any of emo halcyon days. Although if you are one of the LJ-Ohio is for Lovers shirt wearing-Gerard Way loving brats out there you might want to give Gracer a try and get a grip on when emo was more about the music than how your hair is placed perfectly over one eye as you look aloof and distraught in your Myspace profile.
