Very Emergency is the third studio album by American rock band the Promise Ring, released on September 28, 1999, through the label Jade Tree.

Very Emergency received generally favorable reviews from music critics, many of whom praised the band's change of sound, though some felt it was inferior to Nothing Feels Good.

[2] Bassist Scott Beschta was replaced on the album's supporting tour by Tim Burton, who had played with Gnewikow in his former band None Left Standing.

Bohlen, Burton and Didier were released from hospital the following morning while Gnewikow was in the intensive care unit for three weeks for a broken collarbone and other injuries.

[7] In October 1998, the band released the Boys + Girls EP; around this time, they had several new songs that were finished and were anticipating recording their next album in early 1999.

[18][3][7] It continued the pop-orientated direction the band alluded to on the Boys + Girls EP,[20] drawing comparison to the Wedding Present, the Pixies,[21] Soul Asylum and the Lemonheads.

[26] The rock track "Happy Hour"[18] is followed by the ballad "Things Just Getting Good",[25] which sees each member of the band being namechecked and features a reference to "Take Manhattan" (2001) by the Big Bright Lights.

[11] Didier said the inspiration for the design came from the film Rushmore (1998), which guitarist Jason Gnewikow loved and wanted each member of the band to dress up as different characters.

", directed by Darren Doane, and stars the roommate of Didier's girlfriend, in addition to Dave Kaminski and Schoenbeck's brother Mike, who served as their touring manager.

[47] In May and June, the band were scheduled to go on a European tour with Burning Airlines,[48] however, on the day they were due to go,[49] Bohlen was diagnosed with meningioma, a brain tumor variant.

AllMusic reviewer Blake Butler wrote that the band's "emotionally tense and sentimental edge has pretty much entirely disappeared; everything is happy, bouncy, and catchy as hell, which isn't always a bad thing".

[20] Tad Hendrickson of CMJ New Music Report found the album to be "brimming with ringing hooks and a deepening sense of thoughtful pop craft".

[21] Brian M. Raftery of Entertainment Weekly wrote that while the band had "solidified their indie following with pressurized melodic musings, their third album reveals a knack for hook-heavy power pop".

[29] MTV writer Steven Kandell felt that in an "alternative (read: better) universe, commercial radio would be crawling with gems like the ones that make up" the album.

[62] Punk Planet writer Ryan Batke considered it an improvement over their previous album; halfway through his initial listen of it, the "melody had carved out a permanent home for itself in my brain".

[63] The staff at NME wrote that the band have "gone one step further than the wracked melodicism" of their previous album "and made a pop record" with a "bristling catchiness that’s propelling them to the fore of US college circles".

[60] Nick Mirov of Pitchfork wrote that the band's "newfound commitment to conventional pop song structures and chord progressions appears to displace energy levels to detrimental effect".

[19] PopMatters contributor Justin Stranzl wrote that "by making a simpler record than its predecessor was, the Promise Ring have succeeded where so many bands have failed".

[25] Critic Robert Christgau gave it a star and wrote: "Finding the tuneful poetry in a moment when most punks are well-meaning dorks going through a phase".

Club writer Stephen Thompson said it was a "far cry from its more intense predecessor [...] Which is fine: The Promise Ring certainly isn't contractually obligated to make the same great record over and over".