This is the debut album for the fourpiece band Welton, residing in Fort Smith, Arkansas. After self-releasing 3 EP"s and touring the West Coast a couple times since their formation in 1999, they signed to the fairly new Snapdragon Records. Some of these songs immediately reminded me of Staring Back"s last album "On"; shredding riffs and lots of terrific breaks. They occasionally throw in an acoustic guitar for a few seconds as well though, and there"s quite a bit of powerpop punk material there as well. But absolutely cracking are the churning guitarlines in literally every song on this 9 song album. And still... there"s a latent trace of emotional rock in this release, due to sudden breakdowns and intermezzo"s of calmer sung pieces.