Penfold
Amateurs and Professionals

In 1999, at the end of the golden era that began with Diary (the debut of Sunny Day Real Estate), a couple of essential albums emerged for the emocore scene, which was fundamentally taking two distinct paths: heading towards the experimental shores of post-rock as in the debuts of American Football and Juno, or indulging in pop excesses as The Get Up Kids did with Something To Write Home About or Jimmy Eat World with Clarity. While the first trend would rise and present us with albums of the caliber of Mare Vitalis, the 2000 masterpiece by The Appleseed Cast, the second trend would eventually show us an obscenely glossy side with bands offering pop punk poorly concealed by a metalcore sound.

Amid these novelties are Penfold, a New Jersey quartet that in 1999 released an EP of seven tracks, remarkably faithful to bands like Mineral, Sunny Day Real Estate, Christie Front Drive, and neighbors Texas Is The Reason. The EP in question is Amateurs & Professional, and although it is not a fundamental album of these years, it stands out for its sincerity and its fidelity to the cause of the aforementioned bands, which had laid bare their souls following a path commenced years earlier by Husker Du, who had depoliticized punk and put it at the service of their deepest youthful anxieties.

"And for the first time in my life I want to cry and laugh at the same time." The album opens this way, with "June," an emotional rollercoaster, perhaps the most representative song of Penfold. The guitar interplay is well-honed, and the rhythm section is steady, supporting the entire piece, particularly the drums that fill almost every second of the album. The voice, almost choked by tears, sings about the absence of love, as in all the other songs on the album, with imagery well-cultivated by Mineral (perhaps their greatest influence).

"M" is a more restless piece, where at times a beautiful female voice emerges, acting as a bridge between the two masterpieces of the album: "June," appropriately, and "I'll Take You Everywhere." The third track opens with a delicate guitar arpeggio, accompanying memories of the everyday life of a couple that once was. The magic happens around the third minute, where the remorse for not having spoken essential words unleashes an explosion of guitars. When we look back at what we could have done to save a relationship, we hurt ourselves; a smile becomes a source of pain.

The next two tracks, "Tuesday" and "Traveling Theory," with their at times excessive gloominess, could have been part of their 2001 album, "Our First Taste Of Escape," a record that loses inspiration and plunges into easy pessimism.

The opening of "Breathing Lessons" rivals the best Texas Is The Reason, with lyrics of poignant naivety that everyone can relate to. How many times have we held our breath not to disturb the neck of our girlfriend on which we were leaning? Here too, a final explosion of guitars shows the cohesion of this band.

The final track is "Amateur Standing," which ultimately serves as an anthem of hope. Here too, an emotional rollercoaster in which one claims to be better than how people see us, where one should not compromise their happiness for a fragile sense of security that doesn’t allow us to experience a fear that would only help us grow.

This album is not indispensable and is not even among the best of the genre, but it is notable for its cohesiveness and sincerity. It was a swan song for a scene where young people, almost always just over twenty, decided to bare their souls without many fears. This music reminds us (because unfortunately, now we tend to forget) that not all bad things come to harm us. From a failed relationship, we can only emerge stronger, not succumbing to easy victimhood and continuing to hope.