Aspen It Is, Release Me! From the Weights of Gravity

Just like the infamous line from Dumb and Dumber, Aspen It Is reminds me of my adolescent days spent shooting Nerf guns and dueling it out on Nintendo-64. Their album Release Me! From the Weights of Gravity deals with complex everyday issues of my childhood — mostly involving G.I. Joes, Nintendo, and Fraggle Rock.

Aspen It Is has that Saves the Day pubescent angst that has popularized emo music. The warm, homey vibe and the adolescent enthusiasm the band displays, however, add a certain appeal, an endearing quality that you don’t normally see in emo music. I’m tired of seeing Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carraba cry on TV. I want to see a band enjoying themselves and putting out music that does more than make you feel sorry for them. I mean, if I wanted to see a baby cry, I’d go to a nursery, right?

I liked the album’s transition from clean studio songs to a hidden track of rough recordings of a sing-along they made with their fans and friends. You can hear the band and their friends laughing, joking, and filling in choruses for the singer. The album is moody, introspective, energetic, playful, and bouncy all at once.

Aspen It Is brings back the old days — the days before you knew what self-loathing and sadomasochism were, the days when you could just fly kites and play Goldeneye and not worry. Release Me is an album that will appeal to the adolescent in all of us.