Oct 23 2009
Football, Etc. – First Down EP
Football, Etc.
First Down EP
Self-Released; 2009
I’ll be upfront here – this band hails from my current city of residence, and I’m increasingly amazed that such good music is coming out of Houston, TX these days. This second-wave emo trio has put together a tidy little four-song project that calls to mind all the bands I dug in early college while breaking out of the Christian-rock-only shell in which I was encased for most of my teen years. Cap N’ Jazz, Small Brown Bike, Pedro The Lion, Dear Ephesus, the early Deep Elm Records catalog – they’re all celebrated and reincarnated with deft aplomb.
Burgeoning front-woman Lindsey Minton (formerly of Tin Kitchen) breaks out the flat, just-barely-off-pitch vocals prevalent from that era of music, and the music itself has a very fresh swagger to it. I only wish that Minton’s vocals were brought up a bit more in the mix and that she didn’t sound quite as dispassionate as she does at times – give me more emotion in my emo! That being said, I’m glad there isn’t any generic moping or bland teary-eyed ballads present; instead, tracks like “Touchdown (Dance)” and “First Down” combine a savory mix of fist-pumping with closed-eyed sway that has me hankering for my backpack, flannel, wallet chain, and Airwalks. Hopefully, there will be three more successful downs to follow the First Down EP (and with any luck, the band’s recent signing to Count Your Lucky Stars will prove to be fruitful).