Carly Cosgrove - 'The Cleanest of Houses are Empty' Review

On their second LP, Carly Cosgrove deliver a fantastic slate of tracks that firmly place them in the upper echelon of modern emo.

I could tell from the early moments of Carly Cosgrove's 2022 debut album 'See You in Chemistry' that they were a force soon to be reckoned with in the emo genre. Their blend of unique guitar work, introspective and often quirky lyrics, and well constructed and paced songs was impressive for a debut record and left me longing to see what's next. I'm excited to say that the reckoning has come, and Carly Cosgrove have constructed a fully realized vision of their brand of modern emo.

'The Cleanest of Houses are Empty' sees the young group refine their sound and style in all the right ways. The result is an album that feels more dynamic, varied, and creatively free than their previous efforts. It's quite something to see a band that is still so young figure out exactly who and what they want to be. Whether it's the short acoustic opener 'Steered Straight', the introspective and all too real 'Fluff my Pillow', or the emotionally resonant and hard hitting closer 'The North Star Bar', there is never a dull moment or a second of filler to be found.

Also a big step up from the bands previous work is the production. Not that it's ever been bad, but the level of polish and nice full sound lends itself well to the more dynamic and varies tracks at play. From a lyrical and thematic standpoint, 'The Cleanest Houses are Empty' is dripping with introspection, looking inward, and dealing with mental health head on, often in a catchy and unique way.

While I fully expected this album to be a heavy hitter, even I have to admit that it exceeds any expectation I could have put on it. There is not a single skippable track, dull moment, or questionable creative choice (in my opinion). 'The Cleanest of Houses are Empty' is a tightly packed, exciting, melodically pleasing, and emotional journey that I look forward to going on again and again. You'll be hard pressed finding an emo album that tickles my brand of fancy quite like this one. I am proud and excited to hand the album my first perfect score in my short time with this blog!

Standout tracks: Listen front to back ❤️

10/10