The Promise Ring take themselves a bit more seriously on Nothing Feels Good (Jade Tree, 1997), their second full-length, but they also have more fun: higher production values, tighter musicianship, and a better mix all befit a band that aspires to sell-out those 150-person all-ages venues across the late-90’s indie landscape (they graduated to the mid-sized venues with their next album, 1999’s Very Emergency). In many ways, Nothing Feels Good perfectly straddles the cutesy emo of 30º Everywhere and the pop perfection of Very Emergency, and it’s no wonder that the album’s title was borrowed for the first book on emo (written by Spin contributor Andy Greenwald). Guitarist Jason Gnewikow (who also designed their album covers) and bassist Scott Beschta are noticeably better than on previous recordings, especially on “Is This Thing On” and “A Broken Tenor.” Davey von Bohlen’s vocals are also much stronger and more tuneful, and the higher prominence in the mix a) allows the listener to actually discern his lyrics, and b) prompts a lot of sing-along moments, especially on nonsensical syllables like “doo doo” on “Red & Blue Jeans” and “ba ba ba da” on “Why Did We Ever Meet” (quoted in Jimmy Eat World’s “A Praise Chorus” by von Bohlen himself). Drummer Dan Didier—von Bohlen’s partner in later projects Vermont and Maritime—rocks the syncopated start/stops that define Midwest emo: for example, on “B is for Bethlehem.” Although the title track illustrates The Promise Ring’s continuing interest in ballads, they still play guitar rock, and not very challenging guitar rock at that—you’ll find neither the discordant noise nor the low fi fuzz that featured prominently in other indie bands of the era—but poppy, happy, and if not explicitly strategically saccharine, remembered as such. On Nothing Feels Good, The Promise Ring, for better or worse, laid the groundwork for the mass explosion of emo/pop in the early 2000s.