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Proggy emo.

Scottish quartet This Familiar Smile wear their influences like badges - The Get Up Kids, Brand New, Braid, Cursive - all can be heard from the opening track. They have a backbone of emo with some mathy guitars; emotional and melodic and with the occasional off-kilter riff or rhythm thrown in.

The album is lyrically sung from the heart; sometimes melancholic and full of emotional choruses, the melodies are solid and anthemic and the often stop/start rhythms are uplifting. Tracks like ‘No Comfort In Consolation’ mix up quiet with loud, slipping in slices of sweeping guitars to give an epic, open feel. After a quite poppy beginning with the almost pop-punk ‘How the Conversation Started’ which is fast, hooky and bouncy with a sing along chorus, the album finds a steady groove with the louder and more aggressively sung ‘The Night Before, The Morning After’ which has progressive sections and some complex riffs; this is the template for much of the album, with a serious edge taking over and the prog tone more obvious. ‘With These Two Hands I Swear I Will End You’ is reminiscent of Cursive; vocally, lyrically and in tone with a darker sounding melody and riffs and it breaks into a heavier almost screamy section towards the end - it’s a cracking tune!

Although their influences are noticeable, This Familiar Smile work them in so they become part of their own distinctive style. Overall the album is very cohesive and delivers on many levels; they have produced some catchy, memorable tunes which are emotionally engaging, uplifting and melancholic at once, vocally it's really solid, sounding sometimes right on the edge of an emotional precipice and only just holding on, which is very endearing. It’s a satisfying blend to listen to and makes you want to revisit the record again.