I may not be the best person to review #1 Defender's latest album, as I have a history with them. #1 Defender was the very first truly independent emo band that I listened to, and therefore hold a special place in my heart, no matter what they release. But I have put my undying support for them aside, and I will look at this with an even hand.

The Defender has never actually released a full album. "The Diary Truthful" EP is actually the third EP from this highly talented ensemble. There is a good reason for this onslaught of EPs: the average #1 Defender song clocks in at six minutes of length, with some going up to nine. If they ever released a full album, the length would be enough to crush any reviewer. But enough dispute on song length. Off to the music.

From their heavy inaugural release "The Lana Lang Effect" EP to their hyper-melodic last release "Shattered Dreams Walking in a Red Moonlight" EP, they have run the gamut of emo sub-genres. On this release, they start combine both the intensity of "Lana Lang" with the melodic mindset of "Red Dreams" to start creating a sound all their own. The drastic contrast between sloppy, cathartic explosions of sound and naive, swooping, blissful washes is what propels their sound, and their songs are forever long because they like to contrast as much as possible.

Their epic for this album is entitled "Remember How to Fly", a nine minute diary entry that shows us melancholy, happiness, anger, depression, and numbness all in one cohesive song. It's hard to describe, because it crams so much into such a small space. Thanks to #1D's tendency to pile on contrasting emotions, "Remember How to Fly" is fantastically entertaining, because you truly can never guess what's going to happen next. There is no verse-chorus-verse structure. This is sporadic to the max.