Notes From Underground

Dissolving from Promise Ring emo punk into Arcade Fire chamber pop, 1997's Notes from Underground is more delicate than the band's previous two releases. In fact, it would be safe to call 1997 the most twee band on the Victory roster, which includes nu-metal artists Otep and Between the Buried and Me. Blame the gradual shift in direction on the fact that the six-piece has undergone quite a few lineup changes since their inception. A Better View of the Rising Moon vocalist Kerri Mack and her replacement for On the Run, Alida Marroni, both jumped ship after their respective albums, leaving new singer Arthi Meera to be the lone female to harmonize sweetly with Kevin Thomas' acrobatic whine on Notes from Underground. She does so accordingly, and new bassist/one-time band photographer Matt Wysocki fills the shoes of Alan Goffinski adequately. The rest of the group (Coleman, Pepp, and Josephson) show signs of maturity, despite their collective young ages, and as a whole, 1997 seem more comfortable than ever in their niche — as the band that totes a glockenspiel and French horn on the Warped Tour. While their sound has softened, the change isn't drastic. The vibe is still easy, breezy, and slightly bittersweet; the instrumentation is still organic and full of frills (with harmonium, mandolin, lap steel, and toy pianos on board); but most importantly, the boy/girl vocal interplay is as endearing as ever, encapsulated best by the songs "Sympathy for the Living," "Wolf + Sheep," and "A Fearless Heart"