My Very Last Breath

The Emo Diaries Chapter Eight (Deep Elm)
By Tim Den

It’s been a while since The Emo Diaries put out a worthy edition. Chapter Eight, My Very Last Breath finally lives up to the series’ predecessors by presenting 12 enjoyable takes on what has become a truly frowned-upon genre. But fear not, when The Emo Diaries gets it right, the results are always top-notch. Beginning with Kelly8‘s Refused-with-girl-singer spectacular, a plethora of emo hybrids (Long Since Forgotten‘s radio emo, The Colour Blue‘s mostly-instrumental noodlings, The Home Team‘s Dashboard Confessional acoustic sappy stylings) show just how flexible the “e-tag” can be, and how it can actually be good when crafted by the right hands. Case in point: Album highlight The Day Action Band, whose modern-James Taylor Americana arcs over any indie rock tags by simply being soulful. Reflective, weary, sullen, but beaming with Heartland perseverance, it serves as a shining example of how maybe this “emo” thing – after it washes ashore on the island of passing trends – just might leave us a few timeless treasures. More: Fading Fast, Logh, Down-To-Earth Approach, Hateen, A Season Drive, The Solo Project, Slow Coming Day.
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