Pictures in Braille

With emo becoming a justifiably maligned quantity in recent years, especially in the flush of odious subgenres, it's easy to forget that there used to be worthwhile bands that mined that territory. The members of Warwick, New York's Pictures in Braille may not embrace a particular genre, but they've clearly learned a great deal from the best emo bands of the 1990s. Their sweeping, atmospheric exuberance is reminiscent of the Rising Tide-era Sunny Day Real Estate, while the amalgam of melodic distortion and impressionistic textures recalls the Promise Ring's sonically ambitious pop. The group's penchant for vocal choruses is very contemporary; fortunately, it layers the vocals well and doesn't aim for the trendily haphazard atonality favored by groups that try to cover up musical shortcomings with a veneer of passion. Pictures in Braille has nothing to hide.