Empty Flowers - V

Label: Atomic Action!
Year: 2013

You had me at "members of Cable". But truth be told, this band is made up of one half Cable and the other half Zodiak (who themselves had members of Balboa and Rosetta…will the circle be unbroken, by and by lord, by and by), and it doesn't showcase the bombast and howling rage that were hallmarks of Cable. Which stinks in a way cause I love that stuff, but in reality it's great cause..there was already a Cable and now there's something new. New is good.
Empty Flowers are coming from a different, albeit related, direction. There are all the hallmarks of the rock music you (we) like, the big guitar, the driving rhythm section, and vocals that have a sense of urgency, all the stuff that combines to make "good music" (patent pending). On this particular record, the elements take on a marked mid 90's emo (and please understand I mean the emo that isn't a bad word kind of emo…not the squealing, hand silk screened, basement, paper bag shit) bend. Like, Shiner, or Boilermaker for example. And there's another sorta post hardcore/emo band from that time frame that they share a similar sound to, but I cannot think of their name for the life of me, and it's fucking killing me! Arrgh! Bluetip comes to mind, but that's not the band I was trying to think of.
But, regardless of my oatmeal memory, the point is, Empty Flowers are capable of some really memorable moments of mature (alliteration!) rock music, that echo with sounds from your past (as well as theirs), but craft a new version of what made that music special the first time around. It's no nostalgia trip, it's simply people of a certain age revisiting some influences of a certain age that if you'll no doubt find some common ground with.
Recommended.

DL