Choose Bronze

Though not as accomplished as the Casket Lottery's third album, Survival Is for Cowards, 1999's Choose Bronze is still somewhat of a landmark for melodic hardcore, infusing the depth of Sunny Day Real Estate with dual vocals and math-y time changes. On this debut, songs like "Trust Nolan" thunder with an At the Drive-In intensity, only to turn suddenly somber. It's powerful and dynamic in a way that mainstream emotional punk could only hope to be. Choose Bronze really shouldn't be thrown into the catchall tag of emo — the album is too well composed. Complex and catchy with vocals that completely grab, amazingly tight drumming, bright basslines, and both melodic and angular riffs, Choose Bronze paints the Casket Lottery as a sort of a heavier Sharks Keep Moving, especially on "Ocean." The experimentation is there, but the Casket Lottery are always driving forward, always slapping you awake before you even think of drifting off or daydreaming. "Ever Since Sulfur" has a similar bouncy aggression to Pretty Girls Make Graves, another good comparison, because the Casket Lottery don't fit nicely into some predetermined category — like Pretty Girls, they simply play confounding punk rock music that isn't afraid to be as introspective and emotive as it is aggressive.