The Promise Ring was an American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, that is recognized as part of the second wave of

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

. Among various other EPs and singles, the band released four studio albums during their initial run: '' 30° Everywhere'' (1996), ''

Nothing Feels Good ''Nothing Feels Good'' is the second album by American rock band the Promise Ring. The album has gained a cult following, and is frequently regarded as one of the most influential records of the emo genre. The title of the album was used as the ...

'' (1997), ''

Very Emergency ''Very Emergency'' is the third studio album by American rock band the Promise Ring, released on September 28, 1999 through the label Jade Tree. Following the release of their second studio album ''Nothing Feels Good'' (1997), bassist Scott Bescht ...

'' (1999), and ''

Wood/Water ''Wood/Water'' is the fourth and final studio album by American rock band the Promise Ring. It was released by Anti- on April 23, 2002. While touring in support of their third studio album, '' Very Emergency'' (1999), the Promise Ring were du ...

'' (2002). Their first two albums solidified their place among the emo scene; their third effort shifted toward

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

, while their final record was much more experimental in nature. The band initially broke up in 2002 and has reunited sporadically since then to perform live, but no new material from the band has since been released. They were last active for a live performance in 2016. The Promise Ring was established in 1995 by guitarist Jason Gnewikow and drummer Dan Didier. Cap'n Jazz guitarist

Davey von Bohlen Davey von Bohlen (born August 11, 1975) is an Americans, American musician and songwriter. He is best known for serving as lead vocalist and guitarist of the emo band The Promise Ring and also as guitarist and backing vocalist in short-lived cul ...

joined the band soon thereafter and became the band's vocalist. The trio remained the Promise Ring's core members throughout its history. The band has employed a host of other bass guitarists throughout its existence, but current bassist Scott Schoenbeck has remained with the group the longest.

History

Formation (1995)

The Promise Ring was formed in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, from the aftermath of two groups in February 1995: guitarists Jason Gnewikow and Matt Mangan (both from None Left Standing), and drummer Dan Didier and bassist Scott Beschta (both from Ceilishrine). Mangan moved to

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

soon after the group formed, prompting the band to invite Cap'n Jazz guitarist

as Mangan's replacement. Von Bohlen was friends with Gnewikow prior to this, but Didier and Beschta became new acquaintances to him after joining the group. The band recorded a three-track demo which included "Jupiter", "12 Sweaters Red" and "Mineral Point" that March, and played their first show shortly afterward. In June, the group went on a 10-day tour of the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

; Bohlen soon returned to tour with Cap'n Jazz to support the release of their debut, '' Shmap'n Shmazz''. After the ninth day of the tour, Cap'n Jazz broke up, and Bohlen was able to focus his time on the Promise Ring.

Early releases and ''30° Everywhere'' (1996–1997)

The Promise Ring released a 7-inch vinyl single through Foresight Records, which contained the tracks "Watertown Plank" and "Mineral Point". Foresight was owned by a friend of theirs. The band then went on tour, performing in church halls and basements across the US. Texas Is the Reason guitarist Norman Brannon acquired copies of the group's demo and 7-inch single and gave them to Jade Tree co-founder Tim Own. Shortly afterwards, the band was signed to the independent label for a three-album contract. After further touring at the start of 1996, the ''Falsetto Keeps Time'' EP was released in February, and was followed by a split single with Texas Is the Reason in May. Both releases were successful, with the band continuing to tour and work on material that would feature on their debut album. The Promise Ring's first studio album titled '' 30° Everywhere'', was released by Jade Tree in September 1996. Retrospectively, band members have voiced their dislike of the record; according to Bohlen, the album was recorded in only five days. The band additionally was confused about how they wanted to approach the music on the new record; Bohlen described the situation as one "where we had no idea what we wanted to do or how we wanted it to come out." Didier later spoke of his dislike of Casey Rice's engineering on the record, as well as Bohlen's illness during the recording: "it was the wrong recording at the wrong time with the wrong person." Despite this, the release was an underground success, earning the group's attention from independent publications. The attention was drawn and aided by the inclusion of "A Picture Postcard", which had earlier appeared on ''Falsetto Keeps Time'' and would go on to become a staple of the emo genre. The song again appeared as part of an EP titled ''

The Horse Latitudes ''The Horse Latitudes'' is an EP by the emo band The Promise Ring. It was released in 1997 on Jade Tree Records. The album was released between their debut album ''30° Everywhere'' and their hit record '' Nothing Feels Good.'' Track listing *T ...

'', which effectively reissued the band's earlier work in early 1997. Although the band had 500–600 copies of ''30° Everywhere'' to sell over the course of several gigs, the album sold out at

CBGB's CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

. The band further promoted ''30° Everywhere'' starting with a six-week US tour with Texas Is the Reason, followed by a European tour in April–May 1997.

''Nothing Feels Good'' (1997–1998)

Immediately following the European tour's conclusion, the band began writing new material for their second album, sometimes jamming for inspiration. The group went to Memphis, Tennessee, and recorded the album, titled ''

'', at

Easley McCain Recording Easley McCain Recording is an American recording studio, based in Memphis, Tennessee, notable for recording musicians such as Tav Falco's Panther Burns, Oblivians, Grifters, Pavement, Sonic Youth, Come, White Stripes, Townes Van Zandt, Pezz, Je ...

with producer J. Robbins of

Jawbox Jawbox is an American alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1989 by J. Robbins (vocals/guitar), Kim Coletta (bass), and Adam Wade (drums). After the trio released the album '' Grippe'' in 1991, Bill Barbot (guitar/vocals) joi ...

. The relationship between Didier and Beschta throughout the sessions progressively deteriorated. Around the release of ''Nothing Feels Good'', Beschta was replaced by Tim Burton for the album's supporting tour. Burton was a former bandmate with Gnewikow in None Left Standing. A music video was made for the album's fourth track, "Why Did Ever We Meet"; it was directed by

Darren Doane Darren Doane (born September 20, 1972) is an American filmmaker, actor, and music video director. Though the sessions were marked by turbulence, the album received excellent critical reception, and was featured on best-of album lists for the year by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

Teen People ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...

''. In February 1998, the band was traveling back home from a showSalamon 1999, p. 148 while on tour with

Hum Hum may refer to: Science * Hum (sound), a sound produced with closed lips, or by insects, or other periodic motion * Mains hum, an electric or electromagnetic phenomenon * The Hum, an acoustic phenomenon * Venous hum, a physiological sensation ...

during a snowstorm. Their van flipped over after Bohlen hit a bump on the road; Bohlen flew head-first through the windshield. Bohlen (who had

head trauma A head injury is any injury that results in trauma to the skull or brain. The terms ''traumatic brain injury'' and ''head injury'' are often used interchangeably in the medical literature. Because head injuries cover such a broad scope of inju ...

), Burton (who had broken bones), and Didier were released from the hospital the following morning. Gnewikow, however, was in the intensive care unit for three further weeks due to a broken collarbone and other injuries. Following the van accident, the band decided to replace their bassist once again, hiring Scott Schoenbeck in favor of Burton. The band took a six-week break to recover from the van accident before resuming shows with

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They h ...

in the East Coast of the US, and a European stint with

Jets to Brazil Jets to Brazil was an American indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, USA. They formed in 1997 and were active until 2003. History Jets to Brazil was founded by Blake Schwarzenbach, the former frontman of Jawbreaker, and Jeremy Chatelain, w ...

. The band again toured with Jets to Brazil across the US in October and Japan in November.

''Boys + Girls'', ''Very Emergency'' and ''Electric Pink'' (1998–2001)

In October 1998, the band released the ''Boys + Girls'' EP, which contained the two tracks "Tell Everyone We're Dead" and "Best Looking Boys". In March 1999, the band performed new material during a few shows, leading up to their European tour that April. Following that stint, the group began recording their next album ''

'', at

Inner Ear Studios Inner Ear Studios is a recording studio founded in Arlington County, Virginia, Arlington, Virginia that has been in operation since the late 1970s. Originally started in founder Don Zientara's basement, the studio spent many years on South Oakla ...

in Washington, D.C. J. Robbins would return as the producer of the new album, but production credit was this time split between Robbins and the band. Robbins,

Jenny Toomey Jennifer "Jenny" Gillen Toomey (born 1968) is an American indie rock musician and arts activist. Career Toomey was a member of the bands Geek, Tsunami, Liquorice, Grenadine, So Low and Choke, among others, and has also recorded under her own ...

and

Smart Went Crazy Smart Went Crazy was an American rock band from Washington, D.C. History Smart Went Crazy was formed by high school students, Chad Clark (guitar and vocals), Abram Goodrich (bass) and Hilary Soldati (cello and vocals). Following graduation the ...

member Hilary Soldati made guest appearances on the album. The recordings were mixed at

Smart Studios Smart Studios was a recording studio located in Madison, Wisconsin. It was set up in 1983 by Butch Vig and Steve Marker to produce local bands. The studio produced bands such as Killdozer, The Smashing Pumpkins, L7, Tad, and Nirvana. After in ...

, before they were mastered by Alan Douches at West Side Music. Jade Tree released ''Very Emergency'' on September 28, 1999. Around the time of release, they went on a brief tour to promote the album on the East Coast and in Canada with Euphone. Doane returned to film the music video for "Emergency! Emergency!"; the band agreed to make the video because Doane volunteered to do it for free.Jacks 1999, p. 68 It premiered on ''120 Minutes'' in October. The band reconvened with Robbins to tour the US with his band,

Burning Airlines Burning Airlines was an American rock band from Washington, D.C. J. Robbins and Bill Barbot of Jawbox formed the band with Peter Moffett (formerly of Government Issue) in 1997. The band released two full-length albums, a self-titled 7", and ...

, through October and November; they were joined by Pele and

the Dismemberment Plan The Dismemberment Plan was a Washington, D.C. based indie rock band formed on January 1, 1993. Also known as D-Plan or The Plan, the name was derived from an industry phrase used by insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in the popular comedy '' Ground ...

, among others. Further shows were added with Burning Airlines, pushing the trek into early December. The band performed in Japan in February 2000, before taking a break. They went on an American East Coast and Midwest tour the following month with Rich Creamy Paint,

the Explosion The Explosion is an American punk rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. On February 13, 2007, the band announced that they had left Virgin Records, and on April 30, 2007, that they were to split up. On September 4, 2007, the band played their ...

and Pele. In May and June, the band was scheduled to go on a European tour with Burning Airlines, however, on the day they were due to leave to begin the shows, Bohlen was diagnosed with

meningioma Meningioma, also known as meningeal tumor, is typically a slow-growing tumor that forms from the meninges, the membranous layers surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms depend on the location and occur as a result of the tumor pressing o ...

, a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

variant. The tour was immediately cancelled and Bohlen underwent surgery on May 8. Up to this point, he had been suffering from strong headaches whenever the band performed for a year and a half. Two outtakes from the ''Very Emergency'' sessions were included on the ''

Electric Pink The Promise Ring was an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is recognized as part of the second wave of emo. Among various other EPs and singles, the band released four studio albums during their initial run: ''30° Everywhere'' ...

'' EP, released in mid-May. The band took the next few months off to recuperate. They began playing shows again in September, when the band supported

Bad Religion Bad Religion is an American punk rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1980. The band's lyrics cover topics related to religion, politics, society, the media and science. Musically, they are noted for their melodic sensibilitie ...

for three weeks on their US tour; however, Bohlen developed a post-operative infection during this stint that resulted in the group dropping off. They played shows in February 2001 to make up for the cancelled shows they had planned for December.

New record label, ''Wood/Water'' and disbandment (2001–2002)

After finishing the rescheduled tour dates in February, the Promise Ring went and worked on material with Kristian Riley of

Citizen King Citizen King was an American music group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose style was a mix of hip-hop, soul, and punk. They are best known for their top 40 hit "Better Days (And the Bottom Drops Out)", which peaked at on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

. By March 2001, the band had parted ways with Jade Tree, as the label was unable to give the amount of financial support that the band was looking for. After being courted by

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

, the group signed with their imprint Anti- later that year. With Anti-, the group were also looking to move further away from emo, which the band had become increasingly known for while on Jade Tree. Bohlen would liken his band and the label to each other as stylistically synonymous. The group also experienced licensing conflicts with Jade Tree, resulting in difficulties distributing the Promise Ring's releases to labels in other countries, including European releases of ''Electric Pink'' and album releases in Japan. Coinciding with an April and May 2001 tour with Camden, their frontman William Seidel was welcomed to the Promise Ring as their touring keyboardist. With Didier, Bohlen, and Gnewikow being fans of

the Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

and Blur, the band chose

Stephen Street Stephen Brian Street (born 29 March 1960 in Hackney, London) is an English music producer best known for his work with The Smiths, The Cranberries and Blur. Street collaborated with Morrissey on his debut album ''Viva Hate'' following the spl ...

to produce their fourth album, as he had produced for both of those groups. The band ran into budget issues after Street went on vacation and were unable to contact him, so they instead decided to split the recording between Street in the London and

Mario Caldato Jr. Mario Caldato Jr. (born February 24, 1961), also known as Mario C., is a Brazilian-born record producer and studio engineer best known for his work with Beastie Boys, Jack Johnson in the US, Marcelo D2 and Seu Jorge in Brazil. Early life Cal ...

in Los Angeles. "Say Goodbye Good" was produced by Caldato during this period, but the majority of the record ended up being produced by Street at Jacobs Studios in

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

. Schoenbeck was unhappy with the stylistic change during the Los Angeles sessions and left before working with Street. He was replaced by Ryan Weber of Camden for the remainder of the albums recording. The title, ''

'', was announced in December 2001; it would be released on April 23, 2002. It was preceded by an online release of "Get on the Floor" in March, as well as an appearance at

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

later that month. During this performance, Bohlen fainted; he had additional surgery over the next few weeks involving a plate being implanted in his head. ''Wood/Water'' was made available for streaming in its entirety on March 26, 2002, via a

microsite A microsite is an individual web page or a small cluster of pages which are meant to function as a discrete entity (such as an iFrame) within an existing website or to complement an offline activity. The microsite's main landing page can have its ...

before its April 23 release. The album spawned a single and

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Stop Playing Guitar". The video was posted online on May 3, and it was directed by former

GusGus GusGus is an electronic music band from Reykjavík, Iceland. Although initially a film and acting collective, the group is mostly known for its electronic music. The group's discography consists of eleven studio albums. History GusGus was ...

members Arni + Kinski. The song was also released as a single on July 9 on

7" vinyl In music, a single is a type of Art release#Music, release, typically a song Sound recording, recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for record sales, sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most ca ...

and CD. To promote the album, the Promise Ring began by delivering two acoustic in-store performances, and then headlined a US tour in April and May 2002, being supported by

the Weakerthans The Weakerthans are an award-winning and Juno-nominated Canadian indie rock band from Winnipeg. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive. History The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manito ...

. On May 24, 2002, the band performed on ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien. NBC aired 2,725 episodes from September 13, 1993, to February 20, 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and music ...

'', then moved on to a supporting slot on

's tour of the UK. ''Wood/Water'' was released in the UK during this stint on May 27, 2002. The Promise Ring's supporting slot for Jimmy Eat World continued into some US dates in late July and early August 2002. In September and October, the band made what would be their final appearances as part of the 2002 Plea for Peace tour. Although the Promise Ring planned to film a video for "Suffer Never" after Plea for Peace, Epitaph and Anti- announced on October 14, 2002, that they had broken up. The band explained the following week that they had decided to focus on other projects, and had been considering parting ways for several months.

Related acts and reunions

The first side project originating from the Promise Ring began in 1999, when Bohlen and Didier formed the acoustic side project

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

, which featured Chris Rosenau of Pele. Seidel and Weber formed

Decibully Decibully was an indie rock band based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin that formed in 2001 and played their final show early in 2011. History Since 1992, vocalist and guitarist William Seidel and guitarist Ryan Weber had been playing in the same band ...

in 2001, with Gnewikow joining them briefly as their drummer. In 2003, Bohlen and Didier formed In English with Eric Axelson, formerly of

; the group would later become known as

Maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

. They released their debut studio album, ''Glass Floor'' in 2004 through DeSoto Records after it had been passed on by Anti-, and have since released four more studio albums. The Promise Ring has reunited for several reunion shows and tours. These began with a one-off show at the Flower 15 Festival in late November 2005 at

Metro Chicago Metro (formerly the Stages Music Hall and Cabaret Metro) is a concert hall in Chicago, Illinois, United States, that plays host to a variety of local, regional and national emerging bands and musicians. The Metro was first opened in 1982. The ...

. Following a tweet in November 2011, the band played two reunion shows in February 2012. To coincide with the reunion, the Promise Ring announced they would be releasing a rarities collection in the summer of 2012 on former (and reunited) manager Jeff Castelaz's record label,

Dangerbird Records Dangerbird Records is an independent record label in Los Angeles, California. The label is home to artists from around the world and part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. The label has had international success from its small roster of ...

; this collection never surfaced. Between May and September 2012, the band played a variety of US shows and festivals, including

The Bamboozle The Bamboozle is an annual three-day music festival which was held in New Jersey from 2003 to 2012, and is scheduled for a 2023 revival by its founder. Every year, new bands competed for spots during the two days. The event evolved out of the ...

Riot Fest Riot Fest is an annual three-day punk rock music festival based in Chicago, Illinois, at Douglass Park. It is known for booking reunions, guest performances, and full album performances. Riot Fest remains one of the largest independently owned m ...

, and

Fun Fun Fun Fest Fun Fun Fun Fest (often abbreviated as "FFF" or "F3F") was an annual music and comedy festival held in Austin, Texas, United States. The festival was the only genre based festival in the United States, featuring stages that focused specifically ...

. Around the time of the latter performance, Didier said they had "no interest at all to write new music" and that they had "no plan whatsoever" to play together again. On New Year's Eve 2015, the band played ''Nothing Feels Good'' in its entirety at a one-off show at Metro Chicago; when asked about more material, Didier said: "Maybe more shows, but definitely not new music". They then appeared at the 2016 Wrecking Ball festival.

Musical style

The Promise Ring's style has been described at various points throughout their career as

(particularly "second wave" emo),

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

pop punk Pop punk (or punk pop) is a rock music genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop. It is defined for its emphasis on classic pop songcraft, as well as adolescent and anti-suburbia themes, and is distinguished from other pu ...

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, an energetic performance, and ch ...

, and

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

. The group began as a continuation of the founding members' previous bands: emo bands None Left Standing, Ceilishrine, and Cap'n Jazz, all of whom played a particular kind of emo localized in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. Over the duration of their original run, the Promise Ring would progressively distance themselves from the genre, moving towards pop between ''Nothing Feels Good'' and ''Very Emergency'' and starting from scratch on ''Wood/Water'' with their new label. Though the band reportedly did not like it in retrospect, their debut record ''30° Everywhere'' has been praised as a benchmark and blueprint for emo as a whole, having been praised for its "very catchy, very intense, ndvery powerful" material. The group opted for a cleaner, more pop-oriented sound on ''Nothing Feels Good'', which contrasted ''30° Everywhere'' and the punk rock-like approach Bohlen used in Cap'n Jazz, with critics noting a shift toward power pop in addition to the band's already established emo sound. ''Nothing Feels Good'' is noted for pushing the band to the forefront of the emo scene, which helped to forge the way for subsequent landmark releases by their peers, such as ''

Something to Write Home About ''Something to Write Home About'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Get Up Kids, released on September 28, 1999, through Vagrant Records and the band's own label Heroes & Villains Records. Following the promotional tours for t ...

'' (1999) by

the Get Up Kids The Get Up Kids are an American rock band from Olathe, Kansas. Formed in 1995, the band was a major player in the mid-1990s Midwest emo scene, otherwise known as the " second wave" of emo music. Their second album ''Something to Write Home About' ...

and ''

Bleed American ''Bleed American'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Jimmy Eat World, released on July 24, 2001, by DreamWorks Records. The album was re-released as ''Jimmy Eat World'' following the September 11 attacks; that name remained un ...

'' (2001) by Jimmy Eat World. ''Nothing Feels Good'' and the ''Boys + Girls'' EP foreshadowed the Promise Ring completely shifting toward pop, which was fully displayed on ''Very Emergency''. The sessions with Riley sparked another stylistic turn, differing significantly from that of ''Very Emergency''; ''Wood/Water'', the only full-length to follow the band's releases on Jade Tree, was an

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

,D'Angelo 2002, p. 5 indie rock, and pop album,Citations regarding publications calling the album pop: * D'Angelo 2002, p. 5 * * * * with elements of

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

alternative pop Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

, and

psychedelic pop Psychedelic pop (or acid pop) is pop music that contains musical characteristics associated with psychedelic music. Developing in the late 1960s, elements included " trippy" features such as fuzz guitars, tape manipulation, backwards recording, ...

Band members

Most recent lineup *

– lead vocals, guitar * Jason Gnewikow – guitar * Dan Didier – drums * Scott Schoenbeck – bass guitar Former members * Matt Mangan – guitar * Scott Beschta – bass guitar * Tim Burton – bass guitar * Ryan Weber – bass guitar Touring members * William Seidel – keyboard

Discography

Studio albums * '' 30° Everywhere'' (1996) * ''

'' (1997) * ''

'' (1999) * ''

'' (2002)

References

Citations Sources * * *

External links

The Promise Ring
at

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The Promise Ring discography
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

The Promise Ring artist page
at Jade Tree {{DEFAULTSORT:Promise Ring, The Musicians from Milwaukee American emo musical groups American pop punk groups Indie rock musical groups from Wisconsin 1995 establishments in Wisconsin Musical groups established in 1995 Musical groups disestablished in 2002 Musical quartets Jade Tree (record label) artists Dangerbird Records artists Anti- (record label) artists