Very Emergency

Very Emergency is the third album by the emo band The Promise Ring. This album continued to explore the pop sound which had started on its previous album Nothing Feels Good.

Very Emergency
Studio album by
The Promise Ring
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1999
RecordedApril 1999
StudioInner Ear
Genre
Length35:06
LabelJade Tree
ProducerJ. Robbins, The Promise Ring
The Promise Ring chronology
Nothing Feels Good
(1997)		 Very Emergency
(1999)		 Wood/Water
(2002)

Background and production

The Promise Ring released their second album Nothing Feels Good in October 1997.[1] It received critical praise, and was featured on best-of album lists for the year by the likes of The New York Times and Teen People.[2] In addition, it pushed the band to the forefront of the emo music scene;[3] they became the most successful emo act of the era with sales of Nothing Feels Good reaching the mid-five figures.[4] The album received airplay on college radio, and the music video for "Why Did We Ever Meet" appeared on MTV's 120 Minutes.[2] Bassist Scott Beschta was replaced on the album's supporting tour by Tim Burton, who had played with Gnewikow in his former band None Left Standing.[5]

In February 1998, the band were traveling back home from a show[6] in the midst of a snowstorm.[5] After Bohlen hit a bump on the road, their van flipped over. Bohlen, Burton and Didier were released from hospital the following morning while Gnewikow was in the intensive care unit for three weeks for a broken collarbone and other injuries. They returned to touring after a six-week break, though with Gnewikow suffering intermittent pain from his collarbone due to his guitar strap.[6] Since the group felt Burton wasn't working out, coupled with his broken arm, they replaced him with Scott Schoenbeck. At the time, Schoenbeck had formed Pele with Beschta.[5] Bohlen had head trauma and subsequently suffered form constant headaches following the crash.[7] In October 1998, the band released the Boys + Girls EP.[8]

In March 1999, the band aired new material during a few shows, leading up to their European tour in April. Following the stint, the group began recording their next album at Inner Ear Studios in Washington, D.C.[9] The band stayed at the residence of Burning Airlines member J. Robbins in Silver Spring, Maryland and would drive to Arlington, Washington each day.[10] Producer credit was split between Robbins and the band.[11] Throughout the sessions, Bohlen theorised he was taking a bottle of headache pills every couple of days as he was suffering from migraine headaches.[12] Robbins, Jenny Toomey and Smart Went Crazy member Hilary Soldati appeared on the album. The recordings were mixed at Smart Studios, before they were mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Music.[11]

Composition

Musically, the sound of Very Emergency has been described as power pop[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] and pop rock.[21] Though it has also been tagged as emo,[14] it has been noted that the album moves away from this style.[21][3][7] It continued the pop-orientated direction the band alluded to on the Boys + Girls EP,[15] drawing comparison to the Wedding Present, the Pixies,[22] Soul Asylum and the Lemonheads.[23] Unlike Nothing Feels Good which saw the band work on songs from jamming;[24] for Very Emergency, a number of tracks saw Bohlen come up with a barebones rhythm guitar part and vocal melody, which the band would add to and structure around.[25]

The opening track "Happiness Is All the Rage" is a pop song that segues into "Emergency! Emergency!", which was compared to the pop punk scene in Berkeley, California.[26] It features a guitar riff that was reminisent of the one heard in "Just What I Needed" by the Cars.[27] The rock track "Happy Hour"[21] is followed by the ballad "Things Just Getting Good",[26] which sees each member of the band being namechecked.[15] "Living Around" was compared to the work of Fountains of Wayne.[28] "Jersey Shore" conveys the feelings of a summer ending,[13] and is followed by the Cars-indebted "Skips a Beat (Over You)",[16] which features backing vocals from Toomey.[29]

Release

Very Emergency was released on September 28, 1999 through Jade Tree.[30] The album's artwork features former Joan of Arc member Paul Koob[31] as a chauffeur. Since the band had previously seen him with a moustache, they asked him to grow one purposely for the cover of the album.[10] Around this time, they went on a brief tour to promote the album on the US east coast and in Canada with Euphone.[32] A music video was made for "Emergency! Emergency!", directed by Darren Doane, and stars the roommate of Didier's girlfriend.[31] It also features Josh Modell as a milkman in reference to the magazine he was publishing at the time, Milk. The video, shot in Milwaukee,[10] was made solely as Doane said he would do it for free;[3] the clip premiered on 120 Minutes in October.[33] In October and November, the band embarked on a two-month trek of the US with Burning Airlines,[2] Pele and the Dismemberment Plan, among others. Further shows were added with Burning Airlines, pushing the trek into early December.[34]

The band performed in Japan in February 2000,[35] before taking a break. They went on a US east coast and midwest tour the following month[36] with Rich Creamy Paint, the Explosion and Pele.[37] In May and June, the band were scheduled to go on a European tour with Burning Airlines,[38] however, on the day they were due to go,[39] Bohlen was diagnosed with meningioma, a brain tumor variant. The tour was immediately cancelled[40] and Bohlen underwent surgery on May 8.[41] Up to this point, he had been suffering from strong headaches whenever the band performed for a year and a half.[39] Two outtakes from the Very Emergency sessions were included on the Electric Pink EP, released in mid-May.[42] The band took the next few months off to recuperate.[43] In September, the band began supporting Bad Religion[44] for three weeks on their US tour.[39] Sometime during it, Bohlen had a post-operative infection that resulted in the group dropping off.[40] They played shows in February 2001 to make up for the cancelled shows they had planned for December.[45] The album was re-pressed on vinyl alongside 30° Everywhere (1996) and Nothing Feels Good in late 2015.[46]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[15]
The A.V. ClubUnfavorable[21]
CMJ New Music ReportFavorable[22]
Entertainment WeeklyB[13]
MTVFavorable[16]
Ox-FanzineFavorable[47]
Pitchfork8.2/10[14]
PopMatters9.6/10[26]
Robert Christgau[48]
SF WeeklyUnfavorable[23]

Spin included the album on their top 20 best albums of 1999 list.[49]

Track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Happiness Is All the Rage"2:55
2."Emergency! Emergency!"2:56
3."The Deep South"3:42
4."Happy Hour"3:05
5."Things Just Getting Good"4:45
6."Living Around"4:05
7."Jersey Shore"2:39
8."Skips a Beat (Over You)"2:01
9."Arms and Danger"3:23
10."All of My Everythings"5:35

Personnel

Personnel per booklet.[11]

References

Citations

  1. Butler, Blake. "Nothing Feels Good - The Promise Ring". AllMusic. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  2. "The Promise Ring". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on December 4, 2000. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  3. Jacks 1999, p. 68
  4. Greenwald 2003, p. 42
  5. Huey, Steve. "The Promise Ring | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on March 26, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  6. Salamon 1999, p. 148
  7. Cepeda, Eduardo (August 31, 2017). "The Promise Ring's 'Nothing Feels Good' Proved There Was Room for Pop in Emo". Vice. Archived from the original on December 7, 2019. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  8. "Boys + Girl - The Promise Ring". AllMusic. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  9. "News". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on April 20, 1999. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  10. Galil, Leor (February 24, 2012). "An oral history of The Promise Ring". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 26, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  11. Very Emergency (booklet). The Promise Ring. Jade Tree. 1999. JT1043/7 92258 1043 2 5.CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. Weingarten, Marc (June 9, 2002). "Breaking Out of the Emo Ghetto". Anti-. Archived from the original on March 2, 2003. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  13. Raftery, Brian M. (November 12, 1999). "Very Emergency". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  14. Mirov, Nick (November 1, 1999). "Promise Ring: Very Emergency". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  15. Butler, Blake. "Very Emergency - The Promise Ring". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  16. Kandell, Steve (December 8, 1999). "Polished Power Pop". MTV. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2019.
  17. Wigger, Ian (2002). "The most important CDs of the week". Der Spiegel (in German). Archived from the original on June 6, 2002. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  18. Martens, Todd (April 22, 2002). "Promise Ring Poppier On 'Woodwater'". Anti-. Archived from the original on December 25, 2002. Retrieved June 20, 2020.
  19. Stewart, Barb (April 26, 2002). "The Promise Ring Suffer Nevermore". Anti-. Archived from the original on December 25, 2002. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  20. Cohen, Ian (October 20, 2015). "The Promise Ring: Nothing Feels Good Album Review". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 10, 2020. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  21. Thompson, Stephen (March 29, 2002). "The Promise Ring: Very Emergency". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  22. Hendrickson 1999, p. 3
  23. "Review The Promise Ring's Very Emergency!". SF Weekly. September 22, 1999. Archived from the original on June 21, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  24. Hiller, Joachim (September–November 2000). "Promise Ring". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  25. Green, Stuart (October 1, 1999). "Promise Ring Very Emergency". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  26. Stranzl, Justin. "The Promise Ring, Very Emergency". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 3, 2000. Retrieved June 23, 2020.
  27. Salamon 1999, p. 146
  28. Herboth, Eric J. "The Promise Ring Very Emergency". LAS Magazine. Archived from the original on December 14, 2005. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  29. Crainz, Zac (October 28, 1999). "Just Getting Good". Dallas Observer. Archived from the original on June 29, 2020. Retrieved June 29, 2020.
  30. Butler, Blake. "Very Emergency - The Promise Ring | Release Info". AllMusic. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  31. "FAQ". The Promise Ring. Archived from the original on October 18, 2000. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  32. "News". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on October 6, 1999. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  33. "News". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on November 4, 1999. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  34. "Tours". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on November 4, 1999. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  35. "Tours". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on February 29, 2000. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  36. "News". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on February 29, 2000. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  37. "Tours". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on March 10, 2000. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  38. "Tours". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on May 10, 2000. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  39. Green, Stuart (February 1, 2000). "Promise Ring The Difference A Year Makes". Exclaim!. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  40. Heller, Greg (February 12, 2002). "Promise Ring Knock Off "Wood"". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 7, 2002. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  41. MTV News Staff (May 12, 2000). "Rock Beat: Santana, AC/DC, Promise Ring ..." MTV. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  42. "News". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on May 10, 2000. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  43. "News". Jade Tree. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  44. "The Promise Ring". The Promise Ring. Archived from the original on February 12, 2005. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  45. Tanzilo, Bobby (January 23, 2001). "The Promise Ring hits the road". OnMilwaukee. Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  46. Eakin, Marah (November 21, 2015). "An app for lists, live Rush, and 3 old Promise Ring favorites". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on November 6, 2019. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  47. Hiller, Joachim (1999). "Promise Ring Very Emergency CD". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Archived from the original on June 22, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  48. "Robert Christgau: CG: The Promise Ring". Robert Christgau. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
  49. "The Promise Ring, Very Emergency (Jade Tree) / Rainer Maria, Look Now Look Again (Polyvinyl)". Spin. December 31, 1999. Archived from the original on June 23, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.

Sources

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