Cross My Heart

There is certainly no shortage of bands playing that soft/loud/soft brand of emo rock, especially within the Deep Elm recording family. Cross My Heart is certainly one of those bands, but what sets them apart is that they do it extremely well. Within the formula, they write powerful, emotionally wrenching songs that are as menacing as they are melodic and meaningful. This record, which follows up the Self Titled debut, starts innocently enough with the churning "The Great Depression," but quickly picks up with tracks like "Tonight We'll Light Ourselves on Fire" and "London Bridge" before rocking full-on with "Self-Loathing Bastard." The record closes like it opens, with the hard/soft back and forth of "How Slowly We Forget." One of the new generation of emo bands that seems to know how to push the envelope of this often confining genre.