Have Heart

Songs To Scream At The Sun

[3.5/5]

During a show with seminal D.C. band Embrace, Ian MacKaye denounced the new (and pejorative) punk classification “emo-core.” He spat, “I guess hardcore wasn’t emotional to begin with.” Have Heart express vividly just how emotional hardcore can be without devolving into overwrought melodramatic sap. They write songs that ooze passion and exude power. While 2006’s The Things We Carry focused more on speed and energy, Songs To Scream At The Sun allows room for the songs to breathe and brood. The tempos are substantially slower, lending anvil-like weight to the mammoth riffs and cavernous drums. It’s remarkably similar to Verse’s trajectory, a band also reveling in lumbering, minor-key avalanches. While Have Heart’s influences shone clearly through on their debut, they now stir them into a unique sound. There’s a little Hope Conspiracy here, a dash of Champion there, but the end product is all Have Heart. Perfectly fitting the rousing music are Pat Flynn’s above-average lyrics. They include tales of family, growing up and confusion-big themes requiring big sounds. Have Heart deal in anthems: “Pave Paradise,” “Brotherly Love” and “Hard Bark On The Family Tree” will surely inspire loud sing-alongs and ceiling-high pile-ons. Consider it cerebral, physical and emotional hardcore. MacKaye would be proud. (BRIDGE NINE) Casey Boland

ROCKS LIKE:

Outspoken’s The Current

Unbroken’s Life.Love.Regret

The Hope Conspiracy’s Cold Blue