  I am so filled with just one girl Why Im just now discovering and digging into the catalog of a semi-famous band that was only around from 1995 to 2002 is beyond me, but Milwaukees urlLink Promise Ring is kicking my ass and Im loving it. About 18 months ago, I bought the bands 1999 album Very Emergency. I heard a lot about these guys, mainly that they fit the emo description, which can be either a curse or a blessing. I despise labels, but I think what appeals to me (tangentially, anyway) about the whole emo thing is that it seems to be a continuation of a lot of bands that I loved in the late eighties (particularly the Smiths). The emo sound is heavily rooted in emotional vocals, normally evolving into self-pity, while the band hammers away. While many emo bands have been plying their trade over the past several years and accumulating a small yet rabid following, a few of them manage to get some national attention and appear either on the verge of superstardom or perhaps smack-dab in the middle of it.
Im no expert, but I would think that Weezer is a good example of a band with emo stylings that, through some freak of nature, became huge. While emo may not always embrace catchy hooks and singalong choruses, these Promise Ring guys tend to revel in it  at least, on the albums that Im familiar with.
Very Emergency is an album that I loved when I first heard it. Then I put it away, rediscovered it about six months laterand repeated this cycle until last week when, for reasons not quite clear to me, I obsessed over it. The album starts off with little fanfare. Davey Von Bohlens voice kicks things off with the line I got my body and my mind on the same page, and honey now, happiness is all the rage. The song, Happiness is all the Rage, celebrates the joys of staying indoors all day with someone you love. We could do more outdoor things, Davey opines, if we werent so busy getting busy. Amen. Love and emotion seem to be the common themes in the lyrics, while the band chugs away with crunchy guitars and boisterous drumming. One of the albums most manic tunes, Happy Hour, is centered around the simple chorus Where are we living now, which ends up sounding more like a celebration than a confused query. The last minute of that song is probably the high point of the entire album for me. Just try to listen to it while sitting still. One of the slower songs, Jersey Shore, is an affectionate tribute to getting older and moving on. The lyrics are uncharacteristically straightforward but no less poignant: Bored walking on the boardwalk, New Jersey shore / If I come to New York, can I sleep on your floor?
Living out of a suitcase on the motel floor / and running up tabs at the corner store. After spending much time immersed in this amazing album, many online reviewers informed me that their earlier stuff is more adventurous. My curiosity piqued, I grabbed a copy of Nothing Feels Good, a 1997 release. Like Very Emergency, this earlier album is still fast, intense, and catchy as hell, but a bit more inscrutable and idiosyncratic. Especially the lyrics. It seems to me that the lyrics were probably not written with any narrative objective in mind. Its almost as if Davey likes the way the particular words sound and seems to find joy in repeating them over and over. Why else would he choose to sing Delaware, are you aware of Air Supply and Television, over and over and over (in the song "Is This Thing On?")?
Perfect Lines, probably my favorite song on the album (so far), confuses the hell out of everyone concerned with the interminably repeated line Lets talk about the sound of the phone outside of Texaco / from Bell South down to a Southern Belle. I dont know what it means, but I sure love it. The band is an intense combination of guitar, bass and drums, who dont necessarily do anything groundbreaking, but seem to ooze energy with their lightning pace. When the band chooses to slow things down, like on the nostalgic Red and Blue Jeans, they give Van Bohlen plenty of room to say whats on his mind, as in the memorable line, Nothing feels good like you in red and blue jeans and your white and night things. So, yeah, buy these albums. If the idea of a more introverted combination of the Pixies and Weezer appeals to you, youll be in heaven. And if anyone can clue me in as to what the rest of the Promise Rings albums sound like, Id love to hear it. 
