Straddling the (twisted) sister realms of emo and hardcore,
the Rescue's
Phone Numbers EP offers six, melodically charged outbursts -- paradoxically as frail as they are venomous. Needless to say, such contradictory emotions (typified by both clean-sung and raggedly screeched vocals) can rarely coexist peacefully, or, more importantly, convincingly in any one song. When combined with the group's clever/silly song titles, results tend to vary wildly: from clumsy-sounding near-successes like "The Windshield as a Lover," "Angels With Halos Around Their Necks," and "Hallmark Card for Heartbreak," to fluid, unquestionable winners like "One Day" and "Tragically Florida." Still, there's a lot more promise than problems to be found here.