The connotations of “Emo” are always a mixed bag of assumptions. The genre has changed immensely from its 1980s roots with lyrics still keeping a political mindset and a DIY work ethic. As those first bands played shows for the next wave, the genre changed in the 1990’s, for better or worse. The residual anger and activism behind what the early architects of Emo were rallying against gave way to feelings of inflection and eventually morphed into the bastardized version that gets mocked as if it’s millennial hair metal.
Enter Suburban Eyes; Eric Richter (Christie Front Drive), Jeremy Gomez (Mineral) and John Anderson (Boys Life). A trio of 1990s emo veterans whose self-titled album on Spartan Records aims to evolve the sound they once upheld. Suburban Eyes have written an album that doesn’t exactly evoke the feelings of youth from their heyday, but processes the new feelings of aging; an Emo album for the middle-aged.
The opening tracks, “Socal (Psycho)” and “Headlight Torches,” are arguments of what made this iteration of Emo great to begin with. “4AM” and “Never Ending” hit more of the marks one looks for in that 1990s Emo sound. The first side is a meditation on the genre’s past sound. We’ve listened to the albums of lost hope and isolation. This feels like the other side of that and accepting the sense that life will work itself out while learning to accept the quiet loneliness it gives us sometimes without putting up a wall. The album never gets too aggressive, but it doesn’t just shrug it’s shoulders.
“Floyd” picks things up a bit before a slowed extended breakdown and then builds up, ending strong. While “Uncomplicated Lives” is a little on the poppy side compared to the rest of this album, “Voices” and “Cocktail Ride” keep that moody feeling fans of popular rock in the early 1990s clung to as an alternative to grunge. Some of the songs on this album feel influenced by R.E.M. Do the 90s emo bands owe their sound to Rites of Spring or to R.E.M.? While 1990s Emo bands kept the DIY ethic championed by the pioneers of the genre and constructed their own scenes, there’s no denying R.E.M.’s influence on it, at least lyrically. Their therapeutic verses furthered 1990s Emo more than the seeds Embrace had planted during this time.
The three members of Suburban Eyes wear a few hats contributing to the instruments played on this album; Eric Richter and Jeremy Gomez both play guitar and sing on the album with Jeremy also playing the bass and keyboard on some tracks. John Anderson handles drums, percussion, and also some keyboard work. The method of arranging the songs before recording them instead of working them out in the studio makes this album a thesis on Emo rather than just a document of it.
Is the album overproduced or is it given the care bands like this deserve? It depends on your take. With Jeremy Gomez’s approach and thought being put into the songs themselves, there is also a lot of production on this record. Layering some acoustic guitars is a nice touch on some of the songs, but it seems like there was some type of enhancement making more atmosphere than expected. It seemed like a little much during the first few listens. Gomez did most of the producing of the tracks and they were mixed by Peter Katis. Katis has a resume that boasts Emo adjacent bands such as Death Cab for Cutie and the Get Up Kids, but is also known for working with artists such as Kurt Vile and the National.
Suburban Eye’s debut album isn’t Emo as we know it in its current form. In a time when most bands are reuniting to celebrate the anniversary of a classically revered album, it’s refreshing to see veterans of the scene creating a different type of energy with a new band. If you are a fan of this era of Emo, pick up this record.
