By the late 1990's The Promise Ring had propelled themselves to nearly the top rung of the ferociously melodic brand of music loosely labeled emocore. However, by 2002's WOOD/WATER, the Milwaukee-based quartet completed a transformation of sound begun on 1999's VERY EMERGENCY, an unabashedly poppy and breezy album, yet still unmistakably in the realm of irony-laden indie rock. The opening bars of WOOD/WATER's Wilcoesque, pensive "Get On The Floor" sees the more sedate band asserting "no more guitar songs, it's just nervous energy you're selling to me."
Gone are most of the fire and the sardonic energy of earlier releases, replaced by what practically amounts to an album of modern cowboy ballads, introspective and reflective, with hummable melodies. Far from being dilettantes or bandwagon-jumpers, the foursome led by the high, dulcet tones of Davey von Bohlen proves that it has the innate talent to capably reinvent its sound while retaining sincerity. And on tracks like the adorably self-deprecating "Stop Playing Guitar" and the dreamlike "Become One Anything One Time" with its mournful refrain "I'm just happy you stuck around," the sincerity gives way to sheer beauty.