Glad to get some good news from that crew of seemingly ever-dwindling Northside(?) emo/post-emo bands -- female-fronted, light-handed yet majestic emo-rockers While You Were Gone have finally come back out of seclusion. About damn time, y'all.

To be fair, in the intervening time since they released their excellent debut EP, Heavy Lies the Crown -- check the review by yours truly right here -- back in January of last year, vocalist Misty Moore (formerly Gray) and guitarist Anthony Moore got married (aww...congrats, you crazy kids), and they recruited new drummer David Lopez and second guitarist/keyboardist Brad Smith. Guess that requires a bit of retooling, admittedly, and hey, going by what I've heard off new EP Winter/Summer, the wait's worth it.

It's funny, but the band's entire outlook seems to have done a one-eighty since last I heard 'em. The songs on Crown were beautiful but bleak, with tracks like "Thief" and "Sinner" painting a melancholy, downtrodden picture; it was (and is) great stuff, but more suited to sitting in dark rooms pining away and writing poetry.

This time 'round, though, the music's the sound of two people madly, crazily in love, and...um, wow. You can hear the sheer joy rolling out of the speakers on tracks like the story-song "We Were So Young" (wait for the break, folks, because it hits the afterburners in a really incredible way), the delicate, smiling "Winter/Summer", and the roaring, defiant, skyward-aiming "Your Heart Can Hold the Weight of Two."

Musically, the band comes off closer to 1997 territory than they do Pohgoh, or maybe like a less-heavy Veruca Salt -- Misty's voice reminds me of Nina Gordon in a big way -- or less-baroque Eisley. And while I'll have to reserve judgment for when I hear the full EP, I have to say that it sure sounds like the band's fulfilling that promise I talked about last time.

Why'm I talking about this right now, btw? Well, because the band's playing its EP release tomorrow night, Friday, August 28th, out in their hometown 'hood of Humble at Fuel Cyber Cafe.

They're playing with similarly-cool guys Hollywood Black and The Ride Home (who I need to hear more of, by the by; their song "If I'm Robocop, then You...Turn Me Off", from the first Mia Kat Empire comp, bowls me over every time it cycles past on my iPod). Anthem & Why He Hates Becca I dunno, but they're playing too, so check 'em out.

The show starts around 7PM, and it'll cost you $8 -- Northsiders, WYWG fans, and lovers of sweet, earnest, emo-influenced stuff, this is where you should be.

Labels: Flyeration, H-Town News, Musical Crap, Public Service Announcements, Things To Do, Things To Hear

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