The early 2000's through roughly 2011 was a fascinating era for music. Controversial. Awful. Great. Genre-defying and exciting. Technological advances such as iPods, Myspace, YouTube - brought about an explosion of exposure, new genres and seemingly endless mashups of hard to define musical styles cropping up left and right at an absurdly fast rate (see; Refused, Sound Of Animals Fighting, Copeland, Fall of Troy, Fear Before, Circa Survive, etc.)

I won't hold back my bias here; I was at the prime age to absorb this new wave of music and fell in love with it. Others fairly despised it for justifiable reasons. Terms like "emo screamo" and "scene kids" were coined for good reason. I can't deny the almost unbelievably awful bands that arose during that time, (Google crabcore or BrokenCyde if needed. Rather, don't.) But even with it's embarrassing attention craved tropes, there was a bountiful supply of great music to be found. It was a new and boldly creative era that deserves it's rightful place in music history. I fully expect to be flamed for that take by some but 8 years later I still hold it. I digress.

The "scene" mostly died a slow, painful, Land Before Time sequel-esque death, to many's chagrin and others praise. No more crabcore, hair straighteners flying off unbound shelves like an earthquake breaking the Richter scale, X(insertsomeletters)X, or the somehow thought up idea of sporting ear lobes the size of bowling balls. It is was done for... Save for a gaggle of bands beating a dead horse to a pulp in hopes of somehow bringing it back to life. Despite said horse inevitability dying and hardships such as CD sales plummeting due to streaming, industry changes, recycled-already-done-ten-years-ago music, there remained a thimble full of groups that adapted to survive. Though It felt like looking for a needle in a haystack the size of Texas to find these bands, they were still out there, just no longer en masse.

Fast forward to 2019, scene-era stalwarts like Underoath want to be radio rock, Nu Metal is trying to make a resurgence amongst bands that previously would have publicly flogged someone if they heard them utter the word "Korn." Many bands from the era are sacrificing just about anything for the sake of profitability. Thankfully, art for the sake of art is a difficult thing to kill outright. Integrous music from that era still exists, it's just evolved.

This brings me to sleeper group Reno Royale. Led by Vocalist, producer, engineer, songwriter, and just about anything brainchild Taylor Rigg, we now have a much welcomed addition to the minority. Following in the footsteps of groups such as Copeland, Jeremy Enigk, City and Colour (maybe even a pinch of Fleet Foxes, possibly even Wilco); you'd be hard pressed to think their recent release "The Moment I Go" wasn't crafted by producer extraordinaire Aaron Sprinkle or Matt Goldman.

Reno Royal's latest single "The Moment I Go" is a breathtaking journey of sounds, impressive use of dynamics, vocal melodies, memorable hooks, and raw emotions. I found myself continuously returning to the song, finding something new almost every time. Bragging Sprinkle-esque string, woodwind, and brass instruments (French horn!?) Even a nod to Matt Golman's signature double panned dual drum sets. The song is impossible to pin down genre wise.

The group clearly has their emo roots but pull from so many other influences that they successfully evade being pigeon-holed. Riggs natural voice flows seamlessly through the entire song, boasting lush vocal harmonies and brilliant hooks throughout. Almost as if Aaron Marsh (Copeland) had a twin brother who liked metal more than him but decided to write melodic emo-folk-indie instead. If we're calling this something like that... I don't know exactly what this is, but I do know it's exciting.

We know emo is not coming back, but some haven't forgotten it's memory. The era that spawned countless genres of music left a strong imprint on people. It's gone but not forgotten. This track pays homage to that cherished time period and so, so much more.

Craig Ledbetter, an SF native began his career early as a recording engineer and musician, later signing with Spinefarm Records, touring with diverse groups such as August Burns Red, Alice in Chains, and AFI. He currently spends most his time lamenting over the death of "good music" and listening to exclusively classic rock.