CD Review: Nominee – “Drag Me Out”

Channeling a list of sonic influencers far too many to name, Austin, Texas pop-punkers Nominee take the very best elements of the genre and piece them together exquisitely on their latest EP, Drag Me Out. Powerful guitars and spiraling, memorable hooks meet superbly crafted lines courtesy of lead singer Chris McLelland for the lifeblood of Drag Me Out (“Stay,” “Prints,” “White Water,” “Drag Me Out”), though the record is much more than simply that. Switching gears, raw emotion drips from the tension-packed bars of the closing “You Came With The Sun,” which, while reminiscent of All Time Low’s “Remembering Sunday,” sounds plucked from the tear-stained journals of Connor Oberst (‘So was it worth it at all / Even just a bit / Cause I’m a mess and you’re doing fine and I can’t handle this / And all that beauty inside you / Is rotten to the core / And I can’t stand to hang around this house or basement anymore / So I’m moving out and moving on,’ McLelland wails).  Drag Me Out sparkles, plain and simple.  

Grade: A-

Go Download: “Prints”