The Emo Album Club: Maybe You, No One Else Worth It
 

Yeah I was really really pleased with this album when I first heard it. Their EP was so raw and their vocals definitely improved on the full length. Definitely one of my favorite "twinkly" emo albums I've heard.

i refuse to use the term "twinkly"....but can accept the fact that that "mid-west" sound intermixed with math rock elements has created it's own off branch of the general emo genre

at that i have to say this album is really good....easily a four star album were it not for the dreadful "I'll See You at the Ring of Fire"....right from the get go i was surprised....and i have to admit a little worried....the singers vocals...specifically in the harmonies seemed a little over the top at first but actually really worked very well with the music and the general feel of this entire album

this album is a grower in the true sense as i felt that each song just got better and better....until they had to fuck it all up with the token acoustic track....but i feel that does not outshine just how good this album as a whole is

this album really takes me back to Baltimore 2001-2005....i swear every local band was trying to pull of the math rock genius of local heroes Oxes while clinging to the fact that they still loved The Get Up Kids....and at the time 99% of them were failing miserably....Brave Bird hits the nail right on the head and buries that nail deep into the foundation!

highlights for me were
Thick Skin (Should I Give In)....already slated for a spot on the next mixtape i make someone :)
Healthy
Whittle Down The Days

great opener for this club....and i'm looking forward to more like this :)

A 2013 emo album that I haven't heard yet? Color me intrigued.
The band have been sniffing about in my recommendations on Last FM for an age now.
The tracklist looks quite interesting.
It shall be the soundtrack to early monday morning in the next half hour or so.

I have heard this and gave it a 3/5 on RYM but will listen again soon.

Brave Bird - Maybe You, No One Else Worth It

1) Too Late Now: Really liked this as the opening track. A good ole feeling of tomorrow-is-gonna-blow mixed with hopeless wishing and desires. I can relate which is why I think these type of songs always seem to resonate a little bit with me. Maybe it takes me back to being 19 again, but I really liked this song. I also have always really liked the overlapping vocals (which is why I love the first 3 Taking Back Sunday albums - they do it better than anyone, and do it constantly), but the half-scream thing is a bit to get used to. Couldn't decide if it sounded like anus or I enjoyed it, but I came around to it throughout the album.

2) Scared Enough: Started off really not enjoying the song. Turned into a believer when the chorus hit. Very catchy, especially the part where it sounds like a bunch of people singing in unison. I'm sure there's a musical term for that, but whatever it is, I like it. Reminded me of a part of a Manchester Orchestra song where a kid's chorus sang the hook on their Letterman performance. The part I am referring to starts around the 2:00 mark and then the "ready or not..." part comes in and it fits so well together for me.

3) Healthy: Eh, I usually expect more out of the 3rd track on an album. I've always equated it to a baseball lineup where the leadoff hitter and #2 man have passed and it's time to get to the meat of the lineup - or this case, album. Didn't do much for me. Plus the lyrics didn't make much sense.

Ok, getting bored of this format or writing that I've never been particularly great at (the song by song review thing). So I am just gonna drop some random thoughts or whatever as I listen.

* Half way through the album now and nothing really like jumps out in my face or anything, but I am enjoying this a lot. All of their choruses are really catchy and easy to get a feel for, but kinda sound the same to me. It all blends together, so I'm not sure if that's a compliment or a negative.

* Trying to listen while following the lyrics online. Not really understanding what some of them mean, but that's nothing new I guess.

* My favorite song was the first song, Too Late Now. The first 2 lines that hit right as the song starts reminded me of a Get Up Kids song for some reason. I know it doesn't sound like them, but I think it was just the rhythm of how it started.

* Like I said earlier, I don't know if I'd really call him a screamer, more like a guy with a weird voice doing backup/overlapping vocals, but it's a distinct voice and I really enjoyed the sound, though I think towards the end of the album it made a lot of the songs kind of blend together in my mind. Overall, great choice. I liked it a lot and I will add Brave Bird into my music rotation.


I don't really understand the term "twinkly" or what it describes or refers to. I quite like the midwestern emo uptempo-poppy type sounds if that is what it refers to. This album had just enough of that for me and was a very good listen.

"Twinkly" refers to a certain guitar tone common among 4th wave emo bands. Many of those bands have screamo influences (I've seen some of those get labelled "twinkle-daddies"). American Football and Mineral (EndSerenading) are bands from the 2nd wave that helped inspire the "twinkly" bands.




I'm not sure whether there's a distinction between "twinkly emo" and "math emo". Therefore, many people refuse to use the word "twinkly" (and the fact that it sounds a bit dumb).

I will listen to those examples when I'm not on mobile.

I have been listening to the first 2 tracks a ton lately.

It's not bad but I kind of feel like I've heard it before. I enjoy the screamier parts, one of my problems with Midwest emo has always been the apathetic vocal delivery. It's probably one of the reasons I don't listen to American Football anymore. Their vocalist kind of reminds me of the dude from The World is a Beautiful Place.

The instrumentation is pretty solid though. It keeps it interesting. I like it and give it a 6.5 or 7 out of 10.

the way I understand it, an artist at its base is a sum of its influence, individual personality and their own artistic direction. Brave Bird have become so influenced by their influences that they have actually become their influences.

This album is pretty much a Cap'N'Jazz record. The shouting group vocals, the stop/start instrumental progression, even down to the hazy production and sarcastic/ironic delivery of certain lines.

There's nothing technically wrong with this record, but the reason this album didn't take me or as it seems any other persons in this threads imagination is because as Crowquill pointed out, we've heard it before.
If emo is truly to progress, it needs to leave the past and go in new directions, there are several bands out there doing that, whilst Brave Bird seem to be stuck in somewhat of a nostalgia act.

It's good, but I don't think I'll be regularly returning to the album. It does nothing different or particularly better than anyone else.

As for the use of the term 'twinkly' perhaps it's derived from providing a faint glimmer of hope, of optimism. In emo, perhaps the term represents that light at the end of the tunnel, etc. I wouldn't use it as a term in describing music as it's an unrelated adjective. It's like calling an album shiny. It makes no sense.