“This city was the blueprint for Hell,” sings Ben Jorgensen in “Williamsburg,” the second track on Armor for Sleep’s major-label debut. Not sure what the denizens of that hipster-choked Brooklyn enclave ever did to Jorgensen or his bandmates (beyond helping to provide them with an audience big enough to warrant a major-label debut), but it’s kind of refreshing to hear a bitchy emo record that doesn’t direct all its ire toward the heartless females who exist only to ruin sensitive young men’s lives. Not much else about Smile for Them veers off the path previously beaten by Armor for Sleep’s peers in Coheed and Cambria, Taking Back Sunday, and Saves the Day; if you like chugging guitars, whiny vocals, and big choruses — and, hey, who doesn’t? — you’ll find much to admire here. Still, “Williamsburg” suggests that Jorgensen has uncommon potential just waiting to be tapped — maybe someday he’ll become the Randy Newman of the MySpace set.ARMOR FOR SLEEP + FOUR YEAR STRONG + VANNA + VALENCIA | Worcester Palladium, 261 Main St, Worcester | December 29 | 617.931.2000
