Album Review: Courtesy Drop - 'Songs to Drive to; Cry, and Make Love to'

If you're in the mood to feel bad about yourself and drown in a river of sorrow, well you're in luck. Courtesy Drop's latest release, 'Songs to Drive to; Cry, and Make Love to' is the perfect soundtrack to your depression. This album takes all the best elements of the emo genre and crams it all into one convenient, heartbreaking package. They say that if you listen very carefully you can actually hear Bambi's mum dying.

A key element of 'Songs to Drive to...' is dynamics. One of this album's strongest points is how powerful the band sounds when sliding from a soft, melancholic passage into a crescendo of heavily distorted guitars and emotionally charged, wailing vocals.The band's control of tension and release is masterful, often building songs up slowly by gradually adding layers of sound, making for some fantastic climaxes.

As with most emo bands, the vocalist tends to sound like it's his first day on the job. But that's not why people listen to emo music, is it? Caring more about the content and less about the execution, it would seem that emo fans are a pretty forgiving bunch of people. They don't care how many times someone's voice breaks as long as they use lots of pretty words, and in this regard Courtesy Drop delivers. The lyrics on this album are gut-wrenchingly poignant and honest, backed up by equally moving instrumentation.

In short; if you're feeling sad, but you can't help but feel like you could be even sadder, give 'Songs to Drive to...' a listen. You may just find yourself reaching levels of depression you never thought possible!

'Songs to Drive to; Cry, and Make Love to' is aptly named if nothing else. A beautifully tragic-sounding album, Courtesy Drop have crafted something of a testament to the emo genre. This album is the saddest thing to come out of the music industry since Miley Cyrus' VMA performance. We mean that in a good way. No really, just listen to it.

1. History Will Remember Our Generation as a Shining Example of How Not to Exist

2. Goodbye, Fairlane Drive

3. Dormant Dreams

4. Appleseeds from Ash Night

5. A Toast to the Valiant Phil Coulson

6. Mineral Extracts

7. Not All Those Who Feel Pain Are Hurt

8. Science is a Liar Sometimes

9. Truck Jamz Vol. 1

10. Stranger Than Friction

11. Fork in the Road

12. Head, Shoulders, Knees and toe.

13. Superbook