Ivory Coast - Clouds
(Polyvinyl)
I don't feel like I'm oversimplifying things by calling the Ivory Coast
pure emo. I'm not even all that embarrassed about using that word--it
describes them perfectly. They sound exactly like what your first
instincts tell you a five piece two guitar band of semi-nerdy, semi-stylish
rock dorks would sound like in the year 2001. Your basic Get Up Kids
energy, Promise Ring sappiness, and about three waves removed from
Superchunk pop-punk simplicity.
The Ivory Coast are definitely generic and unsurprising, but what they do
they do pretty well. They take indie teen hit formula song structures and
flesh them out with some really well played guitar and drum parts, synth
bits which add extra texture to songs but never get in the way of the
purity of the emo rock, and even throw in some nice e-bow, female vocals,
and trumpet. My only and biggest problem with the band is the singing. I
personally don't care much for either the words (which are full of clichés
and the tried-and-true color of sensitive boy imagery that we've heard
over and over again in indie rock for the past ten years or so) or the
delivery (which strains and fails to sound sincere), but the kids will
probably love it.
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