Nobody in First Day Back was alive in the ’90s, but that doesn’t stop the Santa Cruz five-piece from sounding like one of the decade’s foundational emo bands. In reality, they formed last year after a string of on-campus crossings: reconnecting with a freshman-year neighbor looking for a place to crash, replying to a lamppost flyer seeking bandmates, and poaching a Title Fight-loving bassist from a jazz band. If the magnetism of their first jam session didn’t make it obvious, the five musicians—lead singer and violinist Maggie, drummer Spencer, guitarists Nathan and Zion, and bassist Luke—learned they shared a deep reverence for Braid. What better way to honor the emo band they loved than to start a new one named after a favorite song?
Forward, First Day Back’s unassuming debut, lit the internet ablaze when they self-released it in June. Recorded in a Santa Cruz living room by their friend Benjamin Chung, it’s comprised entirely of live takes with all five members playing in the same room. They used no click tracks or isolated parts except Maggie’s vocals and violin, and the audio is minimally adjusted. That homespun aura gives Forward an everlasting glow. And First Day Back don’t bother with the cheeky electronic samples or maximalist song structures so trendy in current-day emo; the album opens with a full-throated yell and then dives headfirst into the abrasive post-hardcore rhythms, brainy guitar melodies, and impassioned sing-scream of second-wave and Midwest emo.
On all nine songs, First Day Back let mood dictate what and how they play. “Paint” is the sound of craving time alone to create art, where Maggie’s violin swells are as evocative as the crashing fuzz of Nathan and Zion’s guitars. Familial heartache lays heavy on “Us,” one of Forward’s strongest songs, thanks to a tender balance of delicate guitar parts over a roving bassline; the pain of watching parents fight rips Maggie’s vocals in two, but so does the music, which snowballs into a weaponized outburst of its own. First Day Back play with a transparency usually reserved for private moments: screaming into a pillow in your bedroom, or putting your hoodie up to stress-cry on the bus. Each disposition is fully realized without feeling melodramatic. Even their final addition to the album, “Wait, Do You Hear That?,” was the result of an impromptu jam intended to document their contemplative mood.
Considering how openly First Day Back bare their influences, it’s remarkable that they don’t actually sound derivative. A calloused finger could trace their music to the melodic edge of Braid’s guitarwork across Frame & Canvas, the freewheeling playfulness of Cap’n Jazz’s debut, or the sprawling dream-pop harmonies of Jejune’s This Afternoon’s Malady. Their own no-fuss DIY shows seek to recapture the glow of second-wave emo’s “You had to be there” mythmaking: playing in the bowl of a skateboard ramp or pressed against the bookshelves at an anarchist café. Rather than cribbing trademarks from emo’s forebears, though, First Day Back sound like playmates in the same classroom. Their comfortability is too mellow to be a ruse.
While Spencer occasionally adds vocals from behind the drumkit, it’s Maggie whose bittersweet singing, scratchy screams, and outright hollering make Forward instantly memorable. If Tim Kinsella yells like he’s proposing on a roller coaster and Bob Nanna sings like a talk show host with a broken mic, Maggie channels both while sounding like she lost her voice pulling an all-nighter but still showed up to win the school poetry contest. She runs herself hoarse with delirious “Wooos!” in “Wait, Do You Hear That?” and goes full bleeding heart like Sunny Day Real Estate on the thrashing “Gone On.” Her voice is always aching, yet she maintains a grounded resolve. Performing live, she often shoves her hands into her pockets, presses her eyelids closed, and lets her voice pour out with the tranquil interiority of a dog tilting its head to howl in tune with a siren. “I’ll squeeze my eyes some more,” she half-admits on “Sure, Ok.” “I’m hoping to be brought/Something reassured.”
Forward enchants on first listen, and each week since summer, I’ve seen a new fan post this record on Discord or Reddit or X and ask the big question: Where did this come from and why don’t more bands sound like this right now? While Pittsburgh’s Short Fictions bring a softer power-pop touch and Vancouver’s water margin sharpen the post-hardcore edges, First Day Back hit the second-wave bullseye dead on with a batch of instant anthems. Emo revivals come in waves, and the rabid underground response to Forward suggests we’re starved for the classic ’90s sound. Just don’t put it all on one band, because First Day Back aren’t interested in reinventing Midwest emo: They want to experience what it was like to live through it the first time.
Correction: Maggie’s voice and violin parts on Forward were each recorded separately. The final addition to the album was “Wait, Do You Hear That?,” not “Upstairs (212).” This review has been updated.
