The Promise Hero/Farraday/A Work of Fiction/Motives/Everyone Leaves/Breaking Character

While the Promise Hero has been associated with the emo/screamo scene, singer-guitarist Bobby Vaughn says the band's music on last year's Deja Vu comes out on the quieter side of things. "If I had to choose between the two, I would say we're emo," he says. "But I like to think of us as acoustic alternative rock." On album opener "Déjà Vu," an elegant string arrangement and bits of piano amplify singer Bobby Vaughn's high-pitched vocals, making an otherwise ordinary power ballad into something powerful (think of Green Day's "Street of Broken Dreams"). Elsewhere, "Keep It Flowing" is a poppy Weezer-like number with nasally vocals, and the bouncy piano in "Locked Up Alone" sounds like something from a Ben Folds album. The tunes reflect Vaughn's inspirations: the Beatles and Beach Boys. (Niesel)