Welcome to indie-emo-rock

LA natives, Teenage Wrist are back with their newest album, Earth Is A Black Hole. It’s the band’s second full album after Chrome Neon Jesus. The band successfully mixes multiple styles together to create a distinct sound. From futuristic indie rock to throwback emo, the album offers something for pretty much every music enthusiast.

When first listening to the album, it almost feels like an entire indie record—a mix between The Killers and later 30 Seconds to Mars. But like how early 30 Seconds to Mars was emo, the record slowly turns more and more into an emo record. It definitely invites the listener to scream along with the lyrics into a pillow or so. As a whole emo generation grows older, this almost feels like a throwback to their own teenage years. Aiming at younger generations, the band and the album will surely inspire kids and teenagers to dig deeper into a genre that seems almost old school now.

This great exploration of the genre starts with “Silverspoon,” which combines these new indie beats with melancholic lyrics and an overall sad and almost disappointed atmosphere. The emo beats really take off with “Wear U Down.” Are the lyrics a little bit sprinkled with self-pity? Yes, but it’s okay. Sometimes people need that, so a song that provides something to sob along to is just right at this moment.

“High Again,” one of the highlights on the album, continues the emo streak. It is a slow tempo song bursting into heavy sounds from time to time. Generally, the song is dripping with emotions that fit so well with the song in general. “Wasting Time” introduces small pop-punk elements to the music of the band. The sound is just catchy enough without being annoying or too repetitive. The title track, “Earth Is A Black Hole,” perfectly includes all these styles that are spread out over the album in one song. Title tracks are somewhat complicated because listeners usually expect them to be the standout on the album, so there is a lot of room to disappoint, but this is not the case here. The last song, “Stella,” is probably peak emo, mostly acoustic and so easy to sing along to while ugly crying.

Overall, Teenage Wrist didn’t reinvent the wheel, but they featured many elements of various genres and mixed them together well. The album is never dull, and because the lyrics are rather simple, it is a good time to sing along in the car, in the shower, etc. Earth Is A Black Hole is definitely worth listening to repeatedly.