Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We're Alright
Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We're Alright (stylized in all lowercase on the original release, and sometimes shortened to Just Got Back) is the second and final full-length album by American emo band The Brave Little Abacus, released on May 29, 2010. The album was a lo-fi home recording that developed a popular following only after the band broke up and was noted by critics for its varied instrumentation and unorthodox vocals.
Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We're Alright | |
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Studio album by | |
Released | May 29, 2010 |
Recorded | 2009-2010 |
Genre | |
Length | 44:58 |
Label | Self-released |
Background and recording
Following the release of Masked Dancers in 2009, The Brave Little Abacus quickly began writing their second and final album.[1] Adam Demirjian – the vocalist, guitarist, and drummer of The Brave Little Abacus – said that the band chose to forgo conventional studio recording equipment and record the album at home, as they enjoyed experimenting with sound design rather than being "confined" in a studio environment.[2] The album was self-produced, apart from some mixing work by Demirjian's guitar teacher Eric Clemenzi on a couple of the tracks.[3] The band suffered a computer crash and lost two of the original recordings on the album, replacing them in the final cut with mixdown versions originally used for practice purposes.[4]
Just Got Back implements a multitude of different instruments, including the piano, accordion, glockenspiel, synths, church organs, and different brass instruments, among others.[5][6][7] The album also contains samples from the early 2000s sitcom Malcolm in the Middle during the first, penultimate, and last tracks.[6] Adam Demirjian described Malcolm in the Middle as important to him growing up, and said he used the samples as a "vehicle" for presenting both his passion for the show and the messages the show conveyed.[8]
The album cover of Just Got Back From The Discomfort-We're Alright features a picture taken on lead singer Adam Demirjian's parents' honeymoon in front of a gas station.[9]
Release
The band released Just Got Back onto Bandcamp on May 29, 2010.[10] The initial release was not popular; Demirjian said that the Bandcamp album had under 200 downloads some time after it was published.[11] After The Brave Little Abacus broke up in 2012, the album started to develop a cult following, becoming popular on 4chan's /mu/ board and subsequently Reddit.[12]
In October 2020, remastered versions of Just Got Back and Masked Dancers were released on streaming services.
Critical reception
In a staff review for Sputnikmusic, Trebor rated the album 5/5, describing it as "a life changing record... the most underrated, underappreciated classic in all of emo", noting that the lo-fi production and Demirjian's nasally vocals nevertheless created a "challenging listen".[6] Thomas Seraydarian included Just Got Back in an "emo primer" for Crossfader Magazine, writing that the album felt "like a math rock record with a much more dominant level of melancholic melody and varied, experimental instrumentation".[5]
Just Got Back came in at number 27 in Spin's ranking of the "30 best emo revival albums". Zoe Camp wrote that due to the varied instrumentation and Demirjian's unique vocals, the album represented a "dispatch from the doldrums" of typical 2000s emo music: "Seven years later, it feels just as unique as ever."[7] Eli Schoop included the album in a list of staff-favorite music releases of the 2010s at Tiny Mix Tapes, describing the album as feeling "straight, undistilled, [and] without restraint".[13] In the 2019 book Perfect Sound Whatever, James Acaster said the album had a "beautifully stitched-together flow to it, full of detailed sound collages".[14]
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Pile! No Pile! Pile!" | 6:22 |
2. | "Please Don’t Cry, They Stopped Hours Ago." | 4:42 |
3. | "Boy's Theme" | 2:48 |
4. | "A Highway Got Paved Over My Future, I Drive It Getting to School." | 2:34 |
5. | "The Blah Blah Blahs" | 4:14 |
6. | "Can't Run Away" | 6:30 |
7. | "Untitled (Cont.)" | 3:40 |
8. | "Aubade (Morning Love Song)" | 2:13 |
9. | "It's Not What You Think It Is" | 3:39 |
10. | "Allston, Massachusetts December 2009—January 2010" | 1:20 |
11. | "Bug-Infested Floorboards—Can We Please Just Leave This Place, Now." | 4:38 |
12. | "Orange, Blue With Stripes" | 2:13 |
Total length: | 44:58 |
- Tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, and 12 are stylized in all lowercase on the original release.
- Tracks 2 and 4 are stylized in sentence case on the original release.
- For the 2020 remaster, all unique stylization was removed, as well as all punctuation aside from exclamation points.
References
- The E Word episode 52, 31:35.
- The E Word episode 52, 45:03.
- The E Word episode 52, 44:20.
- The E Word episode 52, 47:25.
- Seraydarian, Thomas (November 4, 2015). "Crossfader's Emo Primer". Crossfader Magazine. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
- Trebor (August 27, 2017). "Review: The Brave Little Abacus – Just Got Back from the Discomfort..." Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- Camp, Zoe (June 14, 2017). "27. The Brave Little Abacus – Just Got Back From the Discomfort – We're Alright" in "30 Best Emo Revival Albums, Ranked". SPIN. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
- The E Word episode 52, 1:30:52.
- i might go to the beach #124 - adam demirjian (brave little abacus/me in capris), retrieved July 19, 2023
- The E Word episode 52, 55:13.
- The E Word episode 52, 1:01:16.
- The E Word episode 52, 1:18:38.
- Schoop, Eli (December 16, 2019). "The Brave Little Abacus | Just Got Back From the Discomfort—We're Alright" in "2010s: Favorite Music Releases ♥ Staff Picks". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- Acaster, James (August 22, 2019). Perfect Sound Whatever. Headline. ISBN 978-1-4722-6032-1.
Sources
- Demirjian, Adam, et al. (May 27, 2020). The E Word Podcast 52 – Adam Demirjian of Brave Little Abacus (Podcast). Chillwavve Records. Retrieved May 11, 2022.