Dropping Emo for Metal:A Commentary Inspired by Dropping Daylight’s Brace Yourself

Emo (emotionally-charged hard rock) seems to be a reaction to 80’s heavy metal which was the only thing the truly macho guys listened to in high school. For those of us wanting the hard-edged guitars and rhythms but who were way too touchy-feely so that we’d have immediately been thrown out of a Metallica concert, there weren’t many alternatives. I remember thinking that it was safe to go to a Living Colour concert, because while they bashed about harder than anyone, they weren’t your typical metal band: 1) Corey Glover was as soulful a singer as any R& artist, and 2) they were black.

Along came the 90’s, Seattle, and grunge—hard rock for the flannel shirts. It was safe to be an arty, hippie type in the mosh pit at a Pearl Jam show (as safe as a mosh pit could be), because there was a more egalitarian hard rock spirit. I heard Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, and Screaming Trees get equal accolades on both the metal/hard rock and modern rock/alternative radio stations.

At some point, grunge was eclipsed by newer hard rock forms which leads to Emo. I’m not pretending to understand this entire history; I’m just looking back on what I experienced which helps me see why I can’t stop listening to Dropping Daylight’s Brace Yourself.

Where grunge brought those hard guitars and rhythms out of masochism of locker rooms, softball fields, auto repair shops, and suped-up Chevy Novas, still most of the time, it felt methodically slow. There was still the allure of thrash metal with its incredible double-time kick drum and wicked guitar. Emo moves with the speed, but not as much screaming. Emo tapped into the hard edge without the accompanying demographic. Emo bared souls instead of biceps.

Enter Dropping Dayling’s approach to Emo—speed, thrash, guitar throwdowns, double-speed drum fills, heart-on-sleeve lyrics, melodic vocals, but also piano leads that are a nod to Britrock like Oasis, Coldplay, and Muse. Dropping Daylight are MTV darlings, but while that has of recent meant shallow substance, this band is the real thing in the real, real world. The music drops in off the half-pipe like good skate punkers should when they play the Vans Warped Tour, but this isn’t just X-Games flash.

Songs like “Apologies” give a thrash touch to the basic pop song core. Sebastian Davin’s piano foundation for “Lucy” even recalls Carole King. While you could hear a hint of Rufus Wainwright’s vaudeville or Jamie McCullum’s jazz-thrash piano in the song’s core, the band brings the noise, embracing both Davin’s melodic line and all things Emo. A better match has rarely been heard.

Out of this Emo storm of guitars, drums, piano, and jazz-pop-vaudeville musical overtures comes “Answering Our Prayers,” the turning point ballad when the star of the show faces his fear, his need to change, and so begins the resolution of our play. The song’s chorus asks questions of doubt like many of the Psalms in Scripture.

Is anybody there
Answering our prayers
Or did we do this to ourselves
Will anybody dare to question the air
Searching for answers in the clouds

It takes an Emo band to be brave enough to reveal such doubts on stage, to reveal conflicted, twisted heartstrings in the midst of a hard rock album.

The album then closed with the urgency of “Til You Feel Something,” which has Davin’s breathy, gapped vocal line, some great breakdown sections including handclapping-inducing rhythm with crunch guitars joined by Davin’s Bruce Hornsby-like piano. The song is definitely a show closer of grand proportions.

Thanks to Dropping Daylight and Octone Records for the review copy.