4 out of 5

Label: Sub Pop

Produced by: Brad Wood

It’s certainly interesting giving ‘Diary’ a spin now.  The many off-shoots of this emo grandpappy are absolutely evident, as well as how some groups like meWithoutYou copped the gentle/loud + Discord influence to give their own career’s trajectory; fully expecting Enigk’s powerhouse vocals (which are shocking when you first hear them) also allows one to more clearly recognize the group’s blended influences: the smoothed out hardcore of Fugazi; perhaps the twinkling punk of the Pixies.  But what I find most fascinating is how well the album holds up, despite the possibility of losing its shine to time.  The weaknesses the album has are still there: that the song structure isn’t all that varied; that Dan Hoerner’s guitar work doesn’t carry much weight (and is perhaps why producer Wood downplayed it); that Enigk’s lyrics err on the side of vague.  It’s greatest strength, though, is also still there, in that it’s an incredibly impassioned performance.  Yes, a huge part of that is Jeremy Enigk’s whine-to-scream (unless that’s actually Hoerner?), but the low-end rumble of this album – Nate Mendel’s flowing bass lines, William Goldsmith’s crisp, punky drum pummeling – makes the heavy moments heavy.  The sound otherwise is somewhat murky, which, again, may have been a purposeful mask placed over compositions do tend to blend together, allowing the moments that get loud to really stand out: blistering intensity exploding from pretty plucking and crooning.

When Diary was in heavy rotation in my collection (there was a point) before getting kicked out, blamed for the following wave of emo imitators, I recall not really wanting to hear particular songs but being in the mood for whatever the indefinable element was that made the album seem like something new at the time.  History has covered the album’s role better than I can, but it’s telling that the album still elicits a similar response: I hit play not necessarily looking forward to it – it’s an hour long, I can’t think of any clear moment I want to hear – and then getting swept up in the performance.  The group, through circumstance, struck on something special, harnessed through Brad Wood’s uniquely mixed production.  While it’s true the group would grow in musicianship over the years (closer ‘Sometimes’ sort of indicative of how good this formula is when its written into a song, and not just some riffs with a dude screaming over them), ‘Diary’ was rightfully the spark for a lot of bands – a lot of little voices – to realize they could make a big sound too.