(self-released)
Definitively 90s, Philly’s MorningSide park themselves at the intersection of emo-ska and retail-grunge, combining harder shades of Braid with Foo Fighters daredevil-rock. Heavy users of Epitonic.com and other explorers will be stoked about their proudly displayed garage-ness and may get quite a kick out of the outstanding, crunch-blast lead work of Pete DiCanto, whose Alice n Chains wah-pedal fetish adds metallic shock and awe to what might otherwise be something you’d swear You’ve Heard Before and Liked and What the Hell Is Their Name Anyway. Sean MacGregor’s bratty Nyquil-medicated baritone rounds out an unhateable package with a loose nick of Billy Corrigan in a let’s-stomp-something mood.