I've grown acccustomed to hating emo these days. Useless skinny children with nothing to say without tears in their eyes and a scream in their throats. An endless horde of terrible music infecting the collective psyche of this benighted country.

But wait! Apparently some guys in Vancouver felt the same way, and wanted to do things a bit differently. Their name is All Atate Champions, and their rock is crushing. This northern four piece has made their bones with a record worth owning--hell, worth actually paying to see live--and that is quite a feat these days. Using the ubiquitus Sunny Day Real Estate/Fugazi/At the Drive-In triumvirate of influence, they move forward from them rather than treading water among them.

I will say that the singer should find subjects other than girls, airports, despair and cloudy days, but make no mistake he sings like he knows, and they play like it matters. When was the last time you could say that about a new band?

-Thomas Hampson