Deer Friends Review

The genre term "emo" gets thrown around way too loosely to describe bands such as My Chemical Romance, New Found Glory and *insert mainstream band with nasal vocals*. The genre name became a marketing tool, such as grunge or hair metal, that really means nothing and is just used as a means to create a buzz word for the sake of commerce and be slung around by MTV (or it's cooler and more relevant cousin Fuse). It's a kind of a redundant genre name as well, since all music is meant to be emotive, right?

True "emo" is actually a post-hardcore punk product that is very rich in great bands, such as Minor Threat and Rites of Spring. The torch was then passed to Sunny Day Real Estate and Jawbreaker. This occurred roughly from the early eighties to mid-nineties, with a slew more of great bands produced, inciting what was to become modern day math rock (Braid, Cap n' Jazz) or pop-punk (Brand New, Taking Back Sunday). The later of the sub-genre prevailed to be what would become the face of "emo" mainstream, whiny voice, upbeat punky progressions and most importantly, teenage heartbreak.

If there ever was a band that you could count on to revive emo's true roots, it would be New Brunswick, NJ's Deer Friends. Lo-fi recordings with character, tasteful use of clean and distorted tones combined with dynamically aware, off-kilter arrangements and a fuck-you-im-going-to-sing-something-that-matters-to-me attitude gives Deer Friends a true sense of what emo was originally meant to be, innovate through honesty. That sense of honesty gives the music it's character, as you are truly voicing yourself, not to follow what what was going on around your scene or the mainstream. We're all snowflakes, remember? If you're truly honest, the music you produce will reflect you the way you truly are. Deer Friends sounds pretty honest to me, and it's fucking brilliant. If you appreciate fundamental emo, Deer Friends will deliver those exact sentiments to you. And since true emo really means music that is emotionally true, you can never go wrong. Highly recommended band.


Check it out for yo self.

- Joe Lanza
Holy City Zoo