The Class Of 98

Touch This And Die

[2/5] There are countless ways to reference the classic sound of late-’90s emo, and yet the Class Of 98, like so many of their peers, go for the most obvious choice on their debut. Touch This And Die is 12 consistently mid-paced emo-pop tracks that take Jimmy Eat World’s formula and put it through the same old motions (unless you count the vocals, which bring to mind Recover’s Dan Keyes): sporadic but overly fuzzy keyboard licks, a severe lack of dynamics, and the same style of tidy emotional cooing done to better effect on JEW’s Clarity. Fans of similarly faceless bands like Terminal may throw their diplomas skyward over it, but CO98’s transcript is a bit waterlogged for the Ivy Leagues to give even a passing glance.
(THE MILITIA GROUP) Brian Shultz