In the '90s, emocore/punk-pop became an extremely crowded field -- and it certainly didn't become any less crowded in the early 2000s. There were plenty of
Green Day and
Blink-182 disciples during the Bill Clinton years, and they were just as prevalent when George W. Bush began his second year as president. Not that one has to be a United States citizen to embrace emo; in Latin America, plenty of rock en español combos have provided Spanish-language emo. What separates emo from
the Dickies,
the Buzzcocks, and other old-school punk-pop bands that emerged in the '70s? Today's emo artists are a lot more confessional and introspective, and those words definitely describe
We Have Your Daughter. Emo's usual recipe -- confessional, introspective lyrics combined with youthful angst and loud punk-pop aggression -- is all over this CD. The New York-based
5 Cent Deposit is hardly the only emo/punk-pop unit that has been heavily influenced by
Green Day and
NOFX, and no one is going to accuse
We Have Your Daughter of being groundbreaking. Nonetheless, the material on
We Have Your Daughter is, for the most part, a cut above similar efforts by bands that are also
Green Day-minded and
NOFX-influenced. Many of the emo discs that came out in 2002 were pedestrian and totally forgettable;
We Have Your Daughter, however, has more memorable tracks than forgettable ones. In 2002, anyone who spent much time listening to alterna-rock radio could easily become sick to death of all the faceless
Blink-182 clones that were getting airplay. But those who haven't rebelled against emo altogether will find that on
We Have Your Daughter,
5 Cent Deposit has more to offer than much of the competition. ~ Alex Henderson