Cymbals Eat Guitars
Pretty Years
Reviewed by: Max Miller
Although once at the fore of the seemingly endless “emo revival,” the Staten Island-based group Cymbals Eat Guitars have extended their reach beyond American Football b-sides and Deep Elm Records comps on their fourth full-length, Pretty Years. From the retro aesthetics of the album cover on downward, the four-piece have embraced the glitz of ‘80s legends like the Cure and New Order, making for an album more at home at the festival stage or the dance club than the basement punk show.
Recorded by veteran producer John Congleton, Pretty Years glimmers with keyboard and guitar textures while remaining tastefully sparse, endearing it to the retro era of danceable post-punk, as opposed to the paint-over-every-space-in-bright-primary-colors ethos of modern EDM. Drummer Andy Dole keeps the rhythms tight and springy while bassist Matt Whipple and keyboardist Brian Hamilton build the skeleton for many tracks. Joseph D’Agostino’s guitar takes a surprisingly backseat role for an ostensibly emo band. His rhythm tracks blend subtly with the keys while his leads are fewer and farther between, often accentuating the dynamic shifts of songs like “Close” or “WELL.”
D’Agostino’s vocals are the biggest tell when it comes to Cymbals Eat Guitars’ emo past. He still sings with the raw energy of a punk kid trying to make sure the melodies aren’t too immaculate on cuts like “Finally” and “4th of July, Philadelphia (SANDY).” And then there’s the balladic “Dancing Days,” on which he croons soulfully about how he wants to “get back to the pretty days,” or “Mallwalking,” which somberly references the Columbine shooting. Bruce Springsteen is an obvious touchstone for D’Agostino, and nowhere more so than on “Wish,” which nods to both the Boss’s vocal quirks and his dearly departed sideman Clarence Clemons’ honking saxophone, making for one of the most fun songs on the entire record.
With Pretty Years, Cymbals Eat Guitars seem to have set out to prove they can outlive the “emo revival” tag. Considering how many original emo legends broke up after only a handful of albums (if that) because they found the genre limiting, it’s easy to predict that only bands — like Cymbals Eat Guitars, Pinegrove and the Hotelier — who can break free of its constraints will outlast this revival when the bubble inevitably bursts. Pretty Years isn’t perfect, and its nostalgia for the ‘80s sometimes makes it feel like it’s merely a revival of a different color. But it hints at how Cymbals Eat Guitars may very well be able to transcend any self-imposed limitations if they continue to challenge themselves as they have here.
Rating: Listenable
