Nicknames are a three piece emo band from Cape May, New Jersey. They inhabit the punkier but still melodic area of emo. Lowball is their sophomore EP and it makes them a band I will watch. Nicknames play a kind of emo that I've come to quite enjoy, there is just enough twinkle for flavour that adds some nice noodling and melodic moments but not so much that it becomes the overriding focus.
These songs easily shift back and forth between more upbeat moments of pure energy to moments of noodly, twinkling melody to everything dropping away except a tortured voice and back again. The singer has a nice voice that can go from more pleading melodic to a rougher shout all while bearing his heart clearly on his sleeve. If you don't like twinkly emo punk then there won't be much here for you but if you do like that then this is a solid album.
