The Few, The Proud, The Crucial

Album review

If emo has an enduring legacy, it's this: it has forced hardcore to think about chord changes. The members of Casey Jones would probably shudder to see the word "emo" mentioned anywhere near them -- their stance is straight-up straight-edge, and they don't shy away from preaching about it either -- but there's no question that these chord progressions come from someplace other than the Minor Threat songbook. That's not to say that there's anything as wimpy as a melody to be found on the album, but there's an underlying harmonic complexity to songs like "Just Another Day in the Fla," "Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog," and "Pigs Is Pigs" that belies their lyrical obviousness ("This is my pledge," "I refuse," "Grow up/Step up," "Where do you stand?," etc.). The between-song vignettes are dumb and unnecessary, but the album ends with a brilliantly minimalist example of straight-edge hip-hop credited to one Johnny Unstoppable, who drops this deathless slant rhyme: "Back then my mom thought all my friends were Satanists/Now they're not even my friends, they're just acquaintances." Word.

© Rick Anderson /TiVo