In the ’90s, “emo” wasn’t a dirty word. What began with hardcore kids in Fugazi evolved and continued in Mineral and American Football. I fail to understand how we arrived at the immaculately-coiffed hell we now occupy, with Victory Records mainlining soulless mediocrity into our heads, but perhaps all hope is not lost.
Joie de Vivre don’t fit the emo mould. They owe more to Rites of Spring than Taking Back Sunday. Clean guitars and intelligent, slightly stumbling songwriting expertly combined to create something that takes you back to the good old days. It’s a world of slow-jam drum beats and the bare bones of a bassline, Midwest kids playing like it’s still 1995 and mixtapes were still mixtapes. Vocalist Brandon Lutmer drawls through deft metaphors and quiet confessionals, in the nicest kind of nostalgia trip.
Track // “That’s The Hot Part” (mp3)
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Marcus Kernohan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Stereokill.net. Email him at 
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