The Promise Ring

First off, I want to apologize for not being very active in the last two months or so. I've just been really busy and kind of put the blog to the side for a while. Excuses aside, I've got a few posts that will be added within the next week or so, and I'll get around to responding to all of your messages this week as well, since I also let those pile up in my state of procrastination. So again, sorry for disappearing for a while, but I'll try and keep this more updated in the future.

The Promise Ring were a four-piece emo/indie band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin that formed in 1995. They began just as singer/guitarist Davey von Bohlen's other band Cap'n Jazz were coming to an end. Despite the shared member, The Promise Ring always had more in common with bands like Jimmy Eat World or Braid than Cap'n Jazz and its numerous offspring (American Football, Joan of Arc, etc.) For one, The Promise Ring are very poppy. Their songs are fairly structured, with strong, sing-along choruses and lyrics that get stuck in your head. As they grew, this become more and more true, with Very Emergency being a quintessential power pop album, and their final album Wood/Water coming close to a full-on indie pop record featuring a lot of acoustic guitar. However, their earlier work features some mid-tempo songs and gentle guitar arpeggios in the vein of Sunny Day Real Estate and such. But what really defines this band is their second album, Nothing Feels Good, which is generally regarded as their best work, and for good reason. The songs on it are catchy, the instrumentation hoppy, and the production is tight and crisp. This could easily be considered one of the great albums of the 90's in the way Nirvana's Nevermind or Weezer's Pinkerton are. If you listen to one thing by this band, make sure it's Nothing Feels Good.

The Promise Ring had a fairly long life for a band in their corner of the musical universe. They broke up in 2002 after a seven-year run, with four full-lengths and numerous EP's to show for it. Davey von Bohlen and drummer Dan Didier formed Maritime, who are still active today. And in keeping tradition with the Cap'n Jazz family bands, The Promise Ring have reunited several times as well. They played one show in 2005, and a handful of shows in 2012, but no plans have been made beyond that. Anyway, here's their discography, an essential for any "emo" fan. Enjoy.

First Demo Tape (1995)

1. Jupiter

2. 12 Sweaters Red

3. Mineral Point

Falsetto Keeps Time (1996)

1. A Picture Postcard

2. Saturday

3. Scenes From Parisian Life

The Promise Ring/Texas Is The Reason (1996)

1. The Promise Ring - E. Texas Ave

2. Texas Is The Reason - Blue Boy

30° Everywhere (1996)

1. Everywhere In Denver

2. Red Paint

3. Heart Of A Broken Story

4. Scenes From France

5. Anne You Will Sing

6. My Firetower Flame

7. Between Pacific Coasts

8. A Picture Postcard

9. Somebody's Done For

10. The Sea Of Cortez

11. Run Down The Waterfall

12. We Don't Like Romance

The Horse Latitudes (1997)

1. Watertown Plank

2. Mineral Point

3. A Picture Postcard

4. Saturday

5. Scenes From Parisian Life

6. E. Texas Ave.

7. Miette

8. I Never Trusted The Russians

Nothing Feels Good (1997)

1. Is This Thing On?

2. Perfect Lines

3. Red & Blue Jeans

4. Why Did We Ever Meet

5. Make Me A Chevy

6. How Nothing Feels

7. A Broken Tenor

8. Raspberry Rush

9. Nothing Feels Good

10. Pink Chimneys

11. B Is For Bethlehem

12. Forget Me

Boys + Girls (1998)

1. Tell Everyone We're Dead

2. Good Looking Boys

3. American Girl [Version 02]

Very Emergency (1999)

 1. Happiness Is All The Rage

2. Emergency! Emergency!

3. The Deep South

4. Happy Hour

5. Things Just Getting Good

6. Living Around

7. Jersey Shore

8. Skips A Beat (Over You)

9. Arms And Danger

10. All of My Everythings

Electric Pink (2000)

1. Electric Pink

2. Strictly Television

3. American Girl (V. 01)

4. Make Me A Mixtape

Wood/Water (2002)

1. Size Of Your Life

2. Stop Playing Guitar

3. Suffer Never

4. Become One Anything One Time

5. Wake Up April

6. Get On The Floor

7. Half Year Sun

8. My Life Is At Home

9. Letters To The Far Reaches

10. Bread And Coffee

11. Say Goodbye Good

12. Feed The Night