Garrison
Be a Criminal (2001)

review by: Jason Thornberry
Date: 12/18/01

Boston’s answer to Emo-core seem like they’re telling us that the style has indeed outlived its usefulness. There are tiny elements of it in Garrison’s sound, but the stereotypes of the genre have been given alcohol, sleeping pills, and put to bed with lead sheets.

A short one, this album clocks in at under a half hour, but inserts more melody into one single song than many labored over "brilliant" releases that simply reek of self-indulgence. Commit, Commit, Commit stretches a single phrase out about eighteen feet, with wraithlike piano chords accentuating the verses. The whole album becomes a mantra, and I’ve been playing it all day.