4 out of 5

Label: Hydra Head

Produced by: Brian McTernan

There are much smarter, better-informed music scholars than I who can explain the evolution of emo, but in my head canon, it really did seem like it only became a term once it became a stereotype, and that before that, groups toying around with “emotional” punk were more indebted to punk, or hardcore. Six Going On Seven hit at a critical time when the divide between that earlier style, and a pretty, poppier version – the Hydra Head blurb written at the time of this 7″ references how 6go7 were better than Promise Ring, if you want a clear comparison point – really started to grow; not that you have to like one or the other, or one is better than the other, but Method Actor’s two tracks are definitely more raw than what I’d call typical emo, and yet, these are emo.

We’re dealing with breakups and heartstrings in a confessional manner; we’ve got some poppy hooks and memorable choruses; we’ve got a slightly nasal-y voiced singer, yearning intact… But this also has edge, with Brian McTernan bringing clarity and depth to the production but maintaining the punch of the guitars and the frayed nature of those vocals. Plus, if you want to keep the Hydra Head connection in there, this was recorded at Salad Days, and B-side New Faith in Loss definitely dips into punkier, hardcore shouts in its final bar.

The buildup of that track edges out the A-side, Method Actor, for me, which hooks into its clever chorus (“happiness is method acting”) a bit too repetitively, but both sides key into a really ideal combination of catchiness with a sneer – we know to call this emo now, but it felt like a really exciting sidestep from punk at the time, and these two songs are pretty choice cuts from the group.