ALBUM REVIEW: It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times for Good Hangs on 'Greatest Hangs'
On the Good Hangs' TikTok, bassist Dominic Pierri has spent a good amount of time lately talking about being an 'Elder Emo' and what that entails. While not a scientific method by any means, it seems to cover those of us who are currently in the 30-40+ range who were there for a lot of the formative years of emo music's rise and crossover into mainstream. And while emo music as a whole may seem relatively 'new' in the grand scheme of things, time has a way of sneaking up on all of us and cracking us across the face with a crowbar (with a little calendar drawn on it for effect).
'The Black Parade' came out in 2006, which means its 18th birthday is coming up this October. But today's younger millennials forget that for us Elder Emos, things got started way before that. Page Avenue came out 20 years ago. Jimmy Eat World's Clarity turns 25 this year. Hell, Dookie turns 30 4 weeks from Thursday. The point is that emo is doing exactly what lasting musical genres are expected to do: evolve over time and splinter into a million directions and sounds.
The sound that Good Hangs brings to the table could be best described as '2002 - 2004 emo greatest hits'. They take the best sounds from your favorite emo bands from that era and strain out all the questionable sounds and behaviors. When you listen to their new album Greatest Hangs, the influences of emo bands of the early 2000's can be heard across all 16 tracks, but somehow...elevated. They have the infectious sound of a New Found Glory, but way less nasal-y whining. The tight musicianship and call-and-response choruses of a Brand New but with way less alleged sexual assault. Tracks like 'Intoxicated' are straight shots of emo nostalgia designed by science for those who want to party to drink cheap beer to. Anthems about getting back together with your best buds over too many drinks will never be out of style and Good Hangs capture that energy perfectly in what is easily their best song.
Good Hangs playing Chicago's Metro
But all is not sunshine and smiles in Good Hangs land. Metaphorically that is. I don't know how they're doing as human beings (although they do seem like cool dudes). What I do know is that some of the main themes on Greatest Hangs are some of the bigger problems that our generation is grappling with: none of us have any money and our jobs suck and the planet is dying and all we want to do is be nostalgic for a time that isn't right now because it's more fun to be broken up over a girl than broken up over 2023 being the hottest year on record and the income inequality at the most extreme levels we've ever seen.
This isn't me looking for another excuse to bitch about the state of the world. But it is the world, and those kinds of struggles are not only what inspire the kind of feelings of stagnation and longing that Greatest Hangs taps into, but the reason we need albums like this to exist in the first place. As specific a situation as songs like 'I Hate You (For Making Me Hate You)' seem to be written about, the themes of betrayal and being let down by those you used to be close to are universal enough for everyone to find a reason to join in on the anthemic chorus.
And just like the different types of emo in the world, there's a different Good Hangs song for any mood you're into. Feeling self-reflective and in the mood for improvement going into the new year? 'I Only Do Pushups When I'm Drunk (Drinking Lonely)' pulls double duty as both a potential wake-up call as well as being a song with a title that includes an unrelated second title in parenthesis, a classic emo move popularized by Fall Out Boy back when I was in college. Want to reminisce about the local bands you spent way too much time driving to American Legion halls to see? Local Scene has you covered. Somewhat mirroring life itself, Greatest Hangs tends to have its problems start locally and expand to globally as the album moves along, with songs like 'Bad Luck Planet' and 'When the World Ends' dealing with...well, the end of civilization and the world as we know it.
But if we are all doomed in the end and there's nothing we can really do about it, we might as well have a good time on the way out, right? So take a sip, take a drag. Take a rip. Yee-haw, hell yeah. Greatest Hangs is the soundtrack for that party.
I'm not going to rate this album or do X out of 5 stars or whatever. Either an album is good or it isn't. And this album is good. Great, actually. But they aren't called Great Hangs, now are they, Captain Word Person?
(Although if I did rate this album, I would have to deduct something like...I dunno...whatever the equivalent of 3% is for the naming problem they've painted themselves into a corner over. Let's say that they go on to have a multi-platinum album career and the time to put out a greatest hits album comes. What are they going to call it? Greatest Hangs is already taken! At least they probably have some time to think their way out of that one, but I don't envy their future hypothetical situation.)
Go listen to Good Hangs' new album Greatest Hangs here: