The Appleseed Cast
mySpace // website
written for weheartmusic by gus
When I first heard The End of the Ring Wars some two years ago, I was completely floored by the ingenious sound I heard -- here was a band, locked in the seemingly eternal debate over what defined emo and what defined indie rock, and winning on both counts. Make sense? No, I didn't think so. But what Lawrence, Kansas natives The Appleseed Cast do is phenomenal.
Since Rites of Spring first started tearing up Washington, D.C. venues once upon a time, to the recent stadium-packing saccharine mope-mongers of today, emo has been a volatile, oft hated genre of music. Critics slam it as being a cess pool of talentless, greasy-headed punk wannabes in girl jeans, and slam the music as whiney, melodramatic, and forced. While this is becoming more and more so true, it's hard to remember a time where emo and indie rock pranced almost hand in hand.
The Appleseed Cast is a quartet that has succeeded in making some of the most instrumentally stellar tracks in recent history; they've been slapped with that seemingly ubiquitous "emo" label, which is quite unfortunate. It's ended up turning a lot of people off to some great music. What you won't find here is a bunch of emotionally depraved mope-mongers beating away on hand-me-down instruments, singing about that one time that Jane Doe so-and-so left them after a magic night at make out point.
What you will find, however, are some emotionally charged lyrics accompanied by some masterful musicianship -- every arrangement is carefully layered and played, resulting in some great rock tunes full of atmosphere and depth. Soaring guitar pieces thunder over the hum of organs, while crisp bass-lines walk up and down all over the place. Then comes that surge of sound, the guitars mesh with the drums, and lead singer Christopher Crisci's voice locks it all into piece; everything coalesces, and you're carried out of the song on a long procession of ethereal notes so painstakingly and delicately perceived, it's crazy.
And why not? They've been at it for years, with each consecutive album building upon the last. What started as full out 90's emo on The End of the Ring Wars has built up into a powerful indie rock group that's managed to carry the jangly guitars out of Emo-Land and into a medium more accessible (only because it doesn't have that pesky "emo" tag to go along with it) to the average listener. Sure, it retains a lot of that voodoo emo sound, but give it a listen, and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.
This is the opening track for Two Conversations, and does a great job of summing up The Appleseed Cast's sound. If this is the kind of thing that floats your boat, check out the band's website. Other Appleseed Cast albums are available for download to eMusic members here.
mySpace // website
written for weheartmusic by gus
When I first heard The End of the Ring Wars some two years ago, I was completely floored by the ingenious sound I heard -- here was a band, locked in the seemingly eternal debate over what defined emo and what defined indie rock, and winning on both counts. Make sense? No, I didn't think so. But what Lawrence, Kansas natives The Appleseed Cast do is phenomenal.
Since Rites of Spring first started tearing up Washington, D.C. venues once upon a time, to the recent stadium-packing saccharine mope-mongers of today, emo has been a volatile, oft hated genre of music. Critics slam it as being a cess pool of talentless, greasy-headed punk wannabes in girl jeans, and slam the music as whiney, melodramatic, and forced. While this is becoming more and more so true, it's hard to remember a time where emo and indie rock pranced almost hand in hand.
The Appleseed Cast is a quartet that has succeeded in making some of the most instrumentally stellar tracks in recent history; they've been slapped with that seemingly ubiquitous "emo" label, which is quite unfortunate. It's ended up turning a lot of people off to some great music. What you won't find here is a bunch of emotionally depraved mope-mongers beating away on hand-me-down instruments, singing about that one time that Jane Doe so-and-so left them after a magic night at make out point.
What you will find, however, are some emotionally charged lyrics accompanied by some masterful musicianship -- every arrangement is carefully layered and played, resulting in some great rock tunes full of atmosphere and depth. Soaring guitar pieces thunder over the hum of organs, while crisp bass-lines walk up and down all over the place. Then comes that surge of sound, the guitars mesh with the drums, and lead singer Christopher Crisci's voice locks it all into piece; everything coalesces, and you're carried out of the song on a long procession of ethereal notes so painstakingly and delicately perceived, it's crazy.
And why not? They've been at it for years, with each consecutive album building upon the last. What started as full out 90's emo on The End of the Ring Wars has built up into a powerful indie rock group that's managed to carry the jangly guitars out of Emo-Land and into a medium more accessible (only because it doesn't have that pesky "emo" tag to go along with it) to the average listener. Sure, it retains a lot of that voodoo emo sound, but give it a listen, and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.
This is the opening track for Two Conversations, and does a great job of summing up The Appleseed Cast's sound. If this is the kind of thing that floats your boat, check out the band's website. Other Appleseed Cast albums are available for download to eMusic members here.
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