Pohgoh - Secret Club (2018)

POHGOH's best-known song might be "Friend X," a wordy, rough-hewn guitar anthem that's hinged on a series of well-timed climactic bursts and Susie Ulrey's angsty vocal. Like a lot of the songs in the Florida band's short-but-killer catalog, "Friend X" is a dynamically playful and DIY-feeling fusion of emo, alternative rock, and power pop. It was the first song on their post-breakup album, 1998's In Memory of Bab, and the the last song on The Emo Diaries Vol. 1, the inaugural edition of Deep Elm Records' now-classic compilation series; the tracklist reads like a who's who of emo's second wave. Now, 21 years since officially calling it quits, POHGOH is getting ready to release a brand new album. Called Secret Club, the record is about the unique experience of putting a band back together after two decades, as well as Susie Ulrey's long, personal battle with multiple sclerosis (she was diagnosed after the band broke up, in 2001).