Castevet – Summer Fences

September 6, 2009 • Count Your Lucky Stars Records

As I continue to happily delve into emo, I was surprised to find that there are good bands still putting out the good stuff in the late 2000s, while I'd thought the '90s were the genre's sole heyday. Castevet's Summer Fences is a great example of how the genre has been evolving and maturing, and is a fine listen to boot.

The band's sound features two interesting departures from the indie emo sound of the '90s: one, the occasional fusion with post-rock, and two, harsher, more guttural vocals. While the post-rock fusion works remarkably well (I'm honestly a bit surprised that I haven't heard more albums with that sort of sound), the vocals don't seem to fit very well. The music is pretty mild without any heavier riffing that such vocals would work with.

Regardless, the band more than makes up for it in their writing. Each song is chock full of great melodies and, while they don't quite up live to the standards of, say, Cap'n Jazz, but there are plenty of great moments. One in particular is the standout "I Know What a Lion Is" that has a really great post-rock bridge and buildup that is incredibly beautiful and fits in perfectly.

I'm still a bit too new to the genre to hail Castevet as a totally amazing and awesome band—for all I know this style has been done a thousand times and I just haven't heard those albums yet—but based on what I've heard so far they are definitely doing it right. For something a bit milder but still interesting, they are certainly a band to check out.

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