The Promise Ring

Standard-bearers for the second wave of emo in the ’90s, Milwaukee’s The Promise Ring released four albums in the late ’90s and early 2000s that inspired countless guitar-based bands in the years that followed. Guitarists Jason Gnewikow and Matt Mangan decided to collaborate with drummer Dan Didier and bassist Scott Beschta, forming the band in 1995; Mangan left town shortly after, and the band brought guitarist Davey von Bohlen of the locally beloved band Cap’n Jazz in to handle guitar and vocal duties temporarily, then permanently. 30 Degrees Everywhere, their first album, came out in 1996; the group took lessons from its rushed recording process and applied them to the making of its 1997 follow-up, Nothing Feels Good. That album became an underground-rock sensation, its blend of immediate hooks, massive guitars, intricate drumming and elliptical lyrics thrilling listeners and making songs like “Why Did We Ever Meet” touchstones for emo’s subsequent waves. The Promise Ring continued to evolve over their final two albums: 1999’s Very Emergency leaned toward power pop, while 2002’s Wood / Water borrowed ideas from alt-country. The band broke up in 2002 and have played a few reunion shows in the years since.