2 out of 5

Label: 6131 Records

Produced by: Neil Strauch

Your reverence for early 00s emo will inform your appreciation of Dads’ I’ll Be the Tornado, and while I have approximately none, that’s not fully accounting for the rating knock: rather that I can’t discern anything much that stands out on this album, either on its on terms, or from that scene.

Duo Scott Scharinger (guitars, vocals) and John Bradley (drums) cover a fair range of emo, starting with Bright Eyes earnestness in the crisp and warbly-throated opening of the album, through Jimmy Eat World poppiness as we tear into tracks towards the album’s latter half, and then some interesting post-rock expressions – found when the group allows songs to grow past their hooks and harmonies, as on Sold Year / Transitions and closer Only You’s relatively epic conclusion. Throughout all of this, Neil Strauch’s recording supplies a warm, close sound, but that ends up being part of the middling nature of the disc: it’s maybe not the right approach, as it fails to punch up the highs – hooks hit at the same level as anything else; Bradley’s steady beat has no peaks.

Lyrically, nothing is eye-rolly, but nothing feels especially insightful, either: middle-age, looking for growth. Scharinger sings in the key of emo, which, again, doesn’t differentiate, but the passion is there; with some further defining factor, the fairly genericness of the words wouldn’t matter. It’s just not weepy enough; it’s not poppy enough; it’s not hooky enough. It hits nostalgia marks instead, prioritizing keeping things moving. Reviews seem to suggest that this tour of once-trends makes for a good listen if that’s your jam, but to a non-emo jammer – one who can appreciate some of the all-stars from that scene because of the nuance they added / brought to the mix – I had trouble picking out one song from the other, until those moments where the duo would veer of the beaten path a bit.