Home Is Where

I Became Birds

Written by: PP on 15/08/2021 21:46:54

Now here's an EP that deserves everyone's attention. "I Became Birds" by Florida's Home Is Where showcases a magnificent blend between Midwestern emo, math rock, and screamo in one fascinating, creative package. It's a record that immediately draws your thoughts towards the soothing post-rock by The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, as well as towards the Topshelf Records roster of bands like Pianos Become The Teeth on their early output, or Suis La Lune and others referencing screamo origins.

A great example is "Sewn Together From The Membrane Of The Great Sea". It starts as a complex, mathy track with lengthy ambient buildups and a progressive vibe, characterized by its repeated lines of "I wanna pet every puppy that I see", before all of a sudden exploding into razor-sharp, piercing screamo. It's a play on the classic quiet/loud dynamic that nonetheless feels fresh and original, almost like nothing you've heard before, or at least not in a very long time.

But even better, "Assisted Harakiri" might just be one of the best songs in the genre this year thanks to singer Brandon Macdonald's brilliant pipes: a perfect amount of strain in his emotional croon creates conviction and rough edges, fitting perfectly beside the mathy, intricate guitar lines, injecting hearty amounts of emotional charge in the process. It's a similar overload on high-energy vocals as you saw on for example Ogbert The Nerd's record or to an extent, on Hot Mulligan's record last year. It's the kind of spirited energy that grabs you as it races by you with its swirling aggression and tempo, attached to a melancholic twist that ensures enough melody is included at all times.

Elsewhere, the band brings in harmonica, horns, violin, tambourine, and even an acoustic guitar to complete an expression that feels fulfilling and beautiful. Home Is Where is clearly a band fond of ambiance and atmosphere, which is where the post-rock vibes come in, but also of the raw and ferocious, where the screamo and to an extent math-rock enter the picture. It's the kind of EP that feels like it is bursting at its seams with energy at times, laid back and almost contemplative elsewhere, creating an impressive display of creativity and a showcase of what is possible to do with these three genres together. Watch out for their debut album, it's guaranteed to blow you away, just like this EP does already.

8

Download: Assisted Harakiri, Sewn Together From The Membrane Of The Great Sea Cucumber, Long Distance Conjoined Twins
For the fans of: The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid To Die, Attack In Black, Ogbert The Nerd, Sorority Noise, Foxing, TTNG
Listen: Facebook

Release date 05.03.2021
Knifepunch Records

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