If you flit your vision across a review and it reads something along the lines of “…draw their influence from late 90s emo”, then you might roll your eyes and refresh your Facebook feed.

And who could blame you? Bands from that era have had their influence on over a decade of music, and you’ve barely attended a gig where at least someone hasn’t tried to match Jimmy Eat World’s anthemic delivery or ape The Get Up Kids’ doleful reminisces. But wait…that’s pretty cool isn’t it? It just shows it wasn’t all just a fluke. We weren’t wasting our time or talking crap back then when we said, “wow, it’s weird how this music isn’t more popular”.

It’s genuinely found its niche in history and, like all the best genres, its influences stretch into new generations, and into this new release from Florida threesome You Blew It! While they may be derivative, they derive all the best bits from that era. They get the twinkling, misty-eyed guitar parts right, but they’ve also got the great big crashing hooks. They can go all softly-spoken and poetic on you, and then bang! They’re all raspy and loud and getting flecks of spittle in your grill.

Bit of background: they’re from Orlando, and they released their debut in 2012 which was called Grow Up Dude. You’re actually probably more likely to recognise their name from last year’s juxtaposed split with Fake Problems.

Lyrically there’s a real bitter edge to Keep Doing What You’re Doing. They’re not cooing over the girl with the Jawbreaker shirt at that gig. Instead they spit “you’ve made the list of people I’d like to forget” (‘Rock Springs’) or lament “I’ve found solace in everything that isn’t this” (‘A Different Kind of Kindling’).

Tanner Jones’s vocals are fairly typical for the style, but he knows his voice and can shift gear from melodic murmurs to bursting lungs at will. He sounds a bit like a more interesting version of the dude from Polar Bear Club. You Blew It! are not a band in the business of moving mountains or pushing envelopes. What they have done is written an album that is worthwhile. That is, ten meaty (all over three minutes), mighty portions of heartache and angst for you to blast your way into the New Year with.

– AP