Febuary – February

This begins with a 15-second screaming tirade. Las Vegas’ screamo quartet Febuary kicked off their only debut album, titled February (almost jokingly taking on the plethora of self-titled releases up to this day), followed by months of touring with various bands before calling it quits. Now, most bands break up after one or two years, which is typical in the emo/screamo scene. In Febuary’s case, they broke up in LESS THAN A YEAR, JUST AFTER DROPPING THEIR ONLY ALBUM! It further proves that this is as emo as it gets.

Recorded in DIY fashion with the help of Spring Breeding’s Tyler Gutleben for mixing and mastering, February is a 10-track album of truly heartfelt screamo, with occasional post-rock elements hinted throughout, save for a sassy part in “Bitches Love My White Belt.”

The first half of the album showcases its usual heartfelt tone until their songwriting takes a dark turn in the second half, furthering their post-rock roots in the most brooding ways, similar to Slint. With each listen, it often takes me back to the golden age of Y2K, reminding me how raw DIY production actually made the genre so special on its own.

The instrumentals reminded me so much of Funeral Diner and Dispensing of False Halos (minus the metalcore), and the interchanging dueling vocals remind me of In Loving Memory (minus the kittencore), Ai Ferri Corti (sort of), and Foxtails (most definitely, especially the squealing in “IDGAF”).

It’s this specific kind of aura that makes up Febuary’s personality in this one-shot release. A certain quirky oddity is what makes this so charming. Only a certain kind of emotion doesn’t last forever, though, even if it’s painful.