"Is this emo?" my friend asked as we were driving around last summer listening to the New Amsterdams' Worse for the Wear album. She had just finished her first year as a high school teacher and had become interested in the kids who self-identified as "emo," and what differentiated them from the punks, goths, etc.
 
I thought about it for a split second and answered "No," but quickly added a small caveat: New Amsterdams frontman Matt Pryor had also been in key second-wave emo band the Get Up Kids in the 90's and early 2000's. Despite that band's occasional dabbling with country elements (their 2002 album On a Wire), the Get Up Kids' music always hewed closer to the pop end of the music spectrum, whereas the New Amsterdams go fully alt-country, although in the most accessible manner imaginable (think less Opry, more Jayhawks).
 
I once read a review that described Worse for the Wear as a perfect album (I tried finding a link to it online, but alas, it seems to have vanished), and that's really not far off the mark. It's certainly perfect for lounging in a front porch rocking chair in the warm summer twilight, watching the dust rise from the road with every passing car. You can download standout track "Hanging on for Hope" here: http://www.vagrant.com/media/artist/18, as well as a few others. Pour yourself an iced tea, relax, and enjoy.