The Promise Ring Album: “Wood/Water”

I respect the Promise Ring for making a concerted effort to remove themselves from the current "emo" sound. Most bands would attribute this to "maturing" or "evolving". To me, when a band says they've matured or evolved it's usually a bad thing. The Get Up Kids for instance, just stopped rocking. They don't sound like the band I was into 5 years ago. But the 'Ring embraced change, stated that and didn't try to tiptoe around it.

That being said, the album is full of great "rock" songs...most are mellow and chill. It's literally like they went from little hyper-happy kids to chilled out happy grownups.

Granted it's not *exactly* like their old stuff, but take it on it's own--it's a great album.

Sometime in the last few years an amazing thing happened to me. I woke up to find myself married and with a small child. To my surprise and utter horror, I grew up.

This has been a difficult thing to reconcile with my musical tastes. I have found many of the bands I had love affairs with are no longer relevant to my life. Its hard for me to connect to a band of 30 year old men singing about going on first dates or young girls and boys whining about getting dumped. I am far from that place.

Just when I thought I was truly relegated to alt country alone, this album comes my way. All the old feelings of love and affection I have had toward the Promise Ring are renewed in an album that sounds like it was written and performed by someone my age for someone my age!

As I expected to read, they are getting a lot of flack from the fans. Don't believe a word of it. Wood/Water is a beautifully constructed album. This album is filled with the wonderfully familiar and comfortable Davey von Bohlen lyrics I grew up to. Stop Playing Guitar is a introspective song about taking stock of your accomplishments and appreciating your surroundings. My Life Is At Home is a subtle love song that never fails to make me think of my husband and daughter. To sum it up, Wood/Water is the soundtrack to a gorgeous Spring Saturday afternoon.

Probably the first thing that comes to mind when considering Wood/Water is that it's 'different.' And it is. They've strayed from the upbeat and poppy songs of Very Emergency, but the songs are still catchy. They all tend to be slower and mellower, which makes for a great album to listen to all the way through, again and again (played it 3 times in a row the first time I got it....). There's a lot of good backup vocals on it as well that really enhance the songs. 'Letters to the Far Reaches' is probably the only song that I don't enjoy.

I first heard 'Stop Playing Guitar' and 'Say Goodbye Good', and I think they're the 2 instantly catchy songs that sound like what you would expect them to play. Personal favorites include 'Become One Anything One Time', 'Half Year Sun', and 'Bread & Coffee'.

Great disc. I have no idea what the complaints are about. Bands change, and for some reason some people don't. This album shows us the same raw yet warm sound as before, with a little better composition. Don't get me wrong, the old material is great, but with songs like 'Stop Playing Guitar' this band has really found a compfortable unique sound that is quite easily listenable. Sold out is a term we shouldn't throw arround. Reserve it for bands who release albums on money not music. Progression: it happens. The Promise Ring have matured, and it sounds like some need to follow suit. The Promise Ring are still in my eyes everything a sell out isn't and Wood/Water remains one of my favourite discs.

Ok, first listen left me a little dissapointed - this record is NOT as immediate as previous TPR efforts, but equally as rewarding and enjoyable..given time..

Much in the same way that the Get Up Kids new album is a step away from their 'punkier' roots, so Wood/Water demonstrates how the Promise Ring have grown whilst still retaining the honesty of their earlier efforts. Buy this album, put it on repeat and sit back and relax. the songs are great, just give them time...