Emery try their best to fall just outside the vast domain that is "emo," but the shimmering guitars, melodic verses, and at times larger-than-life choruses sometimes betray their efforts. "So Cold I Could See My Breath" is a good example, as lead singer Toby Morell and company offer up a beefy chorus with great harmonies before ebbing back to the softer portion of their soft-hard framework. There is a portion where the delayed harmonies are comparable to
the Futureheads, yet it's only temporary. A bit of angst never hurts, even if it's placed in such a well-worn arrangement. "Playing with Fire" fares better, as guitarist Matt Carter complements the retro-meets-new wave keyboard work of Josh Head. The hook also works in the chorus as Morelle wails away on each word, while the pop smarts in the vein of
XTC make for an interesting dichotomy on the metal-tinged "Returning the Smile You Have Had from the Start." By far, though, the selling point has to be the finely tuned and lean-sounding "Studying Politics," which discovers its groove and rides the hell out of it, creating one of their strongest numbers thus far. One sleeper pick might be "Miss Behavin'," which has a high-octane punk meets sweeping, majestic pop feel thanks to Carter and drummer Dave Powell. ~ Jason MacNeil