The Early November
The Rooms Too Cold LP
Friday 18th of June 2004
By Saur
The Early November are an EMO band that stands out by virtue of some excellent rhythms and the way that front man Arthur Enders spits out the lyrics with incredible venom. In fact, the vocals actually suggest that the songs have a firm foundation in honest emotion.
'Ever so Sweet' opens the album in an unorthodox manner with a predominately unplugged feel that appears again later in 'Dinner at the Money Table'. The acoustic guitar gets backed up by a rich and warm string quartet and the lyrics are delivered in equal doses of vulnerable and angry.
Second track, 'Something That Produces Results', brings the speed up a notch with some interesting time signatures and chunky guitars that build up to 'The Mountain Range in my Living Room', which has the biggest hooky chorus on the album.
There is just a touch of the Manic Street Preachers in the pre-chorus and verse in the way the lyrics fit to the music but the chorus itself is definitely the star of the show.
'Sesame Smeshame' has a punk-revival feel to the bouncy guitars that contrasts with another anthemic chorus and there are a couple of tracks on the l.p. that suggest routes in other label-mates such as Homegrown, with both 'Baby Blue' and 'My Sleep Pattern Changed' popping memories of 'You're Not Alone' in to the mix, albeit without sounding exactly like that particular influence.
The intelligent use of space throughout 'The Course of Human Life' combined with yet another great strap line at the end of the chorus makes this track another stand-out record on this disk.
This is an album that contains several great tracks that have been placed together really well, with tracks linking together in a similar fashion to Therapy's 'Infernal Love'.
It is another addition to the huge collection of EMO bands available, but The Early November clearly have plenty to add to the genre with the most honest un-layered vocal and some of the best songwriting I've heard.
Official Rating
We rated this record 4 out of 5.
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