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Release Date: April 17, 2007 Label: Victory Records Related Sites: · Official Site · E-Card Grade: B+

How's this for a contrast? You've picked the name 1997 for your band -- about as short as you can get. Now, for your debut, you fashion the longest frickin' title imaginable: Since My House Burned Down I Now Own a Better View of the Rising Moon. That's not the only contrast to be noted as 1997 might be out of Chicago, but their sound differs favorably from the scads of emo bands spewing forth from the Windy City area. Friendship brought them together, with a pedigree including former members of suburban emo giants Constance, metal core/screamsters Funeral Etiquette and the nationally touring pop-rock act October Fall.

They haven't been together that long, but have built a palpable sonic rapport and deliver it through your speakers with infectious enthusiasm. "Cheerful pop-punk", if you have to slap a label on them. But 1997 is not much interested in fitting into neat categories. Lyrically, they hover around lovelorn teenage anxiety yet manage to pepper everything with a coating of optimism. Musically, they move beyond crashing cymbals and churning guitars to educate the listener on other instruments in the musical universe, like the mandolin, the cello, and the tambourine.

Oh, look, Anne Hathaway's in the band! Okay, not really... Kerri Mack (keys, vocals) is the lone female amid guys (right to left) Kevin Thomas (vocals, tambourine), Caleb Pepp (guitar, vocals, ukelele), Alan Goffinski (bass, background vocals, guitar, program- ming), and Nick Coleman (drums, percussion). Photo by Matt Wysocki.

The next track, "Garden of Evil", explores more musical territory with bar room hootin' and hollerin' accentuating the fervor while a banjo is added to the mix, and the reticent "Turn the lights off/I don't want to see myself doing this" lingers in your mind. "Hey Darlin'" continues the energetic mood and features downright rapturous harmony.

From here on out, you'll get straight-forward rock ("In Your Car"), power balladry ("Grace"), and some distorted guitars with almost-approaching-screaming vocals ("Lovelikepoetry"). The harmonica plays a role in the introspective "Tennessee Song" as well as "The Roads You Can Take", the latter of which has some awesome Nickel Creek-type a capella harmony. "Patience, Prudence" even mimics some old school girl-group harmony, as a lover wonders why "You've always got one foot out the door/Where are you going?"

Standout subject matter is taken up with the painful "Droppin' Dimes", speaking on broken families especially during holidays, and those stuck in the middle: "You fight for me but I'm hardly worth it." Occasionally the angst gets a little overwrought, as in "Enough is Enough" which sets off with this visual: "Tear the roof off my life and gut out my insides". Rounding out the disc is the piano-driven "Curse or Cure" which starts out mellow, then builds with a some tasty mandolin served up. It concludes on a hopeful note: "When you fall, you get back up/And in the end you will be loved".

The demographic for this material is squarely with people born not much before the titular year, but ...a Better View of the Rising Moon is a welcome addition on the indie scene, as the band dares to be different in their songwriting (they penned all the tunes) and musicianship. The CD packaging contains a booklet with all the (correct!) lyrics, and cool artwork illustrated and painted by bandmates Mack and Goffinski. If you haven't checked them out yet, hopefully this recommendation will get you looking forward to 1997.