"Calm Americans" by Elliot from the album False Cathedral (2000)

Despite expatriating themselves from hardcore to pursue the lush ambience of emo, the four Louisville dudes who formed Elliott still opposed consumer culture’s vapidity. On this piano-driven epic, Chris Higdon decries the “store-bought dreams” we use to sedate ourselves. You can totally empathize if you’ve ever felt kind of empty after getting a ton of Christmas presents.

_Barry Thompson