When I was handed this CD, I was told, "They’re supposed to sound like Jimmy Eat World" which makes sense considering both bands share the hometown of Mesa, AZ. When did Arizona get so emo? So with this little bit of knowledge I placed the disc in my player and braced myself.

The first track starts off quietly, slowly building itself up layer by layer. I remember thinking, "Hmm...maybe this isn’t going to be some Jimmy Eat Emo after all. There aren’t even any vocals yet after over 3 minutes." And now, as I reflect on it, I can hear it and feel it, that slight emo tinge as the vocals enter with 45 seconds left. But before my body can figure out what to do, I’m picked up by "The Spanish Dagger" which is noticeably offers a bit more of the rocking out flavor that I may desire.

I feel confident that the album will leave me satisfied, even with those long vocal harmonies over that common strumming pattern that have emo written all over it. Moving onto "A Cinema Spine" I continue to rock out and confident as the band has yet to mention anything about making sure that I don’t write myself off.

And then it hits; everything goes downhill. It’s like falling of the side of a cliff. Actually, now that I think about it, the albums quality level can be related to the geography for which their town is named. Just look below for a visual representation of the album.