The easiest comparison to make with Emmet’s music is the Dave Matthews Band, but that’s dismissive. While songs like “Insane” or the acoustic “Please Don’t Forget” certainly play up that singer/songwriter vibe, the bulk of Emmet’s tracks wash over the listener without the cheesy pop sound of DMB, rivaling something closer to a mix of Five For Fighting and The Verve Pipe. 


From the subtle grace of the disc’s opening track, “Perfect Song for a Plane Crash,” which plays like a subdued Candlebox, to the more pop-oriented “boomerang” and it’s Collective Soul overtones, Emmet continues to mix subtlety, grace and an quietly understated power to craft a soft, velvety sound that stands out from most of the band’s obvious influences such as Coldplay and Radiohead. 


The thing that really caught my attention was the weird sort of soulful playfulness that infused such songs as “Kaleidoscope,” “You Don’t Want to Know” and, the almost mournful, “A Little Less Noise” with a haunting vocal quality that hasn’t been heard since Dave Pirner and Soul Asylum. 


Emmet also gives the listener a lot lyrically. While it’s easy enough to sit back, put your feet up and be whisked away by the majority of the tracks, songs like “Falling” and “Ghost” really give a listener something to sink their teeth into and think about. 


Overall, this disc provides a tranquil release for the listener, with songs like “Ghost” providing enough power to keep it from getting sickly sweet and syrupy. If you’re looking for a disc to pop in the player and unwind to, here it is – courtesy of Emmet.
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Earnest, swooping tenor vocals a-quiver with sensitivity, acoustic guitar-flavored instrumentals that shift easily from rocking (but never heavy!) to restrained, sincere, poetic lyrics about complicated relationships... why, it must be the Dave Matthews Band! Well, no, but Emmet is another of thousands of young bands whose lodestar is the popular Virginia quintet. Like most of the acolytes, Emmet puts its own touch on the DMB’s unique instrumentation — no violin, more electric guitar. Many of the tracks, like “Boomarang” and “Perfect Song for a Plane Crash,” feature lots of electronic processing that gives them a smooth, pillowy texture. But the familiar DMB sound is there on tracks like “Kaleidoscope” or “Falling,” with its dramatic dynamic contrasts, especially in singer James Pequinot’s phrasing and repertoire of distinctive vocal tics. On his own, Pequinot’s a technically skillful and emotionally moving singer, the music has a warm, effortless vibe, and the songs are cohesive, accessible and even, here and there, memorable. A band this talented could do worse than using the DMB as a launch pad. —
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Emmet labels its ethereal music as "FARP" -- folk-alternative-rock-pop. Symbolically balancing electric and unplugged instrumentation, the Cleveland-Akron quartet's self-titled full-length debut makes much of the disconnect between day jobs, night life, and the unsettling dreams that buffer the two.

A former solo artist, frontman James Pequignot sings, plays guitar, and writes lyrics about floating through Cleveland, looking for magic and love. His songs are slices of the alt-rock life, and Pequignot reels from working-class desperation: In "Insane," he warbles that he "feels like I'm drunk/And the world is sober."

While Pequignot is a fine writer and player, surrounding himself with a band only helps. In "Falling," chiming guitar lines crash into a monstrous solo. The group has covered Radiohead's "Creep" live, and it's rare to find a band that can take influences from the seminal Brits without imitating them.
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