Mineral and Into It. Over It. span generations of emo at Union Transfer

Mineral | Photo by Matthew Shaver | mattshaverphoto.comThere are two trends in live music happening now that I am absolutely in love with: the reunion tour, and the album tour. Houston, Texas emo outfit managed to fit (almost) both of them in to a single evening at Union Transfer last week. The band only released two albums in their all-too-brief career (at least in that band; they all joined other acts later on, most notably The Gloria Record); the last one, EndSerenading, was released in 1998.  It’s really a shame too, they found a unique middle ground between Sunny Day’s angst, Far’s loud anger, and quiet instrumentals that would feel at home with the Explosions in The Sky set. While I try to shy away from comparing one band to another as much as possible, they lived such a short life, albeit a very influential one, that it feels like an apt way to describe them to new ears.

Chicago’s Into It. Over It. (featuring Cherry Hill, NJ’s Evan Weiss) was a fitting opener. They are evidence of the fruit of Minerals labors. A modern emo outfit that borrows heavily from the past, while remembering that this is still 2014 and a whole lot of stuff has happened in music since ’98.  It was a rowdy affair, and Weiss and crew have become almost a mainstay at Union Transfer this past year. Emo has never seemed so happy.