Every 15-20 years there’s a revival. This time it’s emo and Annie Jump Cannon may be a modern 2022 band, but this could have come out in 2005 and fit into the scene of that day: both for its strengths and its weaknesses.
Emo has always been a flawed genre for me. The melodrama plays well with crescendos and soaring, often minimal instrumentation. But that also puts extra attention on the words and, to be polite, very few people are that good with words. To throw a little more fuel on the fire, the genre tends to feel selfish to me. It’s not universal, but the lyrics are almost always “me, I and you.” In that order. While, thankfully, Flourishing Apart doesn’t jump down the possessive rabbit hole (google Jessica Hopper’s Punk Planet essay if you don’t know what I’m talking about), it still tends to look backward instead of looking forward, inward more than outward. And that’s generally not my world view.
Lengthy diatribe aside, I like Flourishing Apart more than I dislike it. “Dress Shoes” sets the tone nicely, a minimal jam that puts all the vulnerability on the table, before the record gets guitar heavy on “Grasp It” and “Whatever…I’m Just Happy To Be Here.” The record kind of seesaws between these two sounds. It’s at its best when it meets in the middle, with emphatic, raw vocals reminiscent of Sincere Engineer that plead in a heavy manner while the music contrarily draws more minimal. “March Madness” is a strong example. At other times I get shades of early ‘00s emotive bands like Dashboard Confessional and Bright Eyes. “Moth” has a quirky, finger-picking style that I quite enjoy as a changeup. While I’m typecasting the band a bit throughout this review, it’s nicely varied, with structural surprises and some experimental instrumentation along the way.
For those interested in wear-it-on-your-sleeve emo with a rock/punk base and a bit of indie rock meandering, Annie Jump Cannon should hit on all cylinders. It’s a bit dramatic for my tastes and I’m unlikely to keep it in heavy rotation, but this is something I’ll likely keep spinning from time to time as the mood hits.
