Assembly, Now

Is it because Silent Alarm was so good that it wasn't labeled as an emo album? The lazy and unfortunate bandying-about of the term has rendered it all but meaningless, which is unfortunate when it could be such an appropriate descriptor. Consider: Kele Okereke, I don't think, has ever smiled once. He's that sincere. Every syllable is sung with a serious passion that turns the simple - "you" and "me" - into the most important, urgent thing in the world. Everything, it seems, is what he's striving to capture; to present to us. Sung on top of guitars like lumps in the throat, what he's created is emo through and through. Heart-on-sleeve, blown out of proportion but with the best intentions.

So, when Assembly Now ape Bloc Party so honestly, I can't fault them. "It's Magnetic" is the sound of overexplaining, to the point where Gavin Dwight is dealing in abstractions just-this-side of laughable: "facing the great unknown," and "these are the untold sacred moments," etc. Whatever he's talking about, however stilted through lonely analysis his judgment may be, he means every word. No, happily for us, this isn't any kind of posturing, familiar as it sounds.

From Assembly Now's Apollo Control demo:

Assembly Now - It's Magnetic

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Preemptive response to any asinine comments, such as the ones seen on Dodge's Friday post on AssNow (ha): I realize this band can be seen as a fabrication or an attempt to cash in on hotnewsound a la Bloc Party. It's true that they've only had a name for a week and they're already being publicized. But for all the information there is on this band, to subscribe to that thought is just plain cynical. Let's not be assumptive, and give it an open listen.

Enjoy!