(Cover art by Billie Renaux) Here's some of that emo that was hiding from my year-end list . Right off the bat, Sonic Sea Turtles establish themselves as capable songwriters, capturing the specific melancholy and self-loathing of Minnesota's infinite winter. The quartet put out their debut EP Sound Pollution  just last August, but they've kept relatively active with releasing new songs (at least for a DIY band). While "First Snowfall" may describe the sky's initial offering of cold and sleet, the emotions are all-too-familiar. "The winter is holding off the spring" isn't the response of someone encountering a new, frozen reality; it's someone who casts their mind back to years of prior understanding and weight. However, there's a slight uplift at the end of the song's harmonious chorus — "construct a fire when it gets cold / there is still summer under the snow." The framing of the seasons simultaneously establishes t...