Having experimented so much with eclectic instrumentation, TBLA knows exactly when to implement a trumpet, or a keyboard, or a guitar, or a sample, or even the jump sound from Sonic The Hedgehog. Just Got Back is the culmination of everything The Brave Little Abacus accomplished throughout their career. And after 100 listens it became my favorite album, it forever glued itself to my consciousness. “When I say I’m sad I mean it” imprinted on my brain, the shaky vocals, the droning interludes, the Malcolm in The Middle samples, there was always something that felt fresh and new, even after 100 listens. The “Way before now” refrain in the closer hits that much harder because of its appearance in the opener.
It kept exciting me in new ways, like how it subtly repeats and references ideas, themes, lyrics, and melodies. The first couple dozen listens were difficult, I liked it, but I didn’t love it, I skipped tracks, it lost my attention, but I kept coming back. Just Got Back is most certainly a challenging record - it’s a big part of why I’m so drawn to it. I can make claims that it’s important for its genre, but I know for anyone that doesn’t like emo, it’s going to be a challenging listen, and it’s perfectly fair for anyone to not like the way it sounds. No matter what words I choose, the way I structure my sentences, the metaphors, the flowery adjectives I use, all that can really be said is that I love this album, it’s pleasing to my ears, it’s soothing to my soul, and I have a very strong attachment to it. It’s hard to explain why an album is important to me personally. I wouldn't be the same human being if I had never heard this record. Wow, so I guess I’m starting with the most hyperbolic statement possible. Just Got Back From the Discomfort is a life changing record. Please bear with me as I write many typically hyperbolic statements because these statements are undoubtedly accurate in this case. The Brave Little Abacus never spread out of their New Hampshire based scene, it’s just one of those things - a band that flies under the radar, doing great things and experimenting to an empty room. And so it becomes dicey trying to argue that an album that almost no one has heard is a classic. But it must be done because Just Got Back From the Discomfort-We’re Alright is the most underrated, underappreciated classic in all of emo. Even the act of writing “classic album” is loaded. It’s hard to properly talk about a classic album without dipping into hyperbole. The Most Underrated Band on The Planet: A Retrospective
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