Hi, everyone. Dithony Gesttano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of this Emma Goldman album, all you are is we.

Okay, Emma Goldman, which for the purposes of this video, is not a person. No, Emma Goldman is a band from Canada, and they're a group that I'm just getting hip to, and off of the sounds of their debut album here, I think they're pretty exciting.

Now, even though this is their first LP, they have been active on the Vancouver scene for a minute now. There are even members who have connections to older post-hardcore adjacent outfits from the area, such as Dad Thighs. And yes, I had this new record from them recommended to me out of the blue, and I was surprised by what I heard.

I was also shocked by the level of intensity going into the band's performances and the guitar work and the drumming and the vocals, everything. And musically, I would say the band is borrowing a lot of ideas from the screamo, metalcore, and post-hardcore scenes of the late '90s and early 2000s. They really seem to be hip to everyone from Pg99 to Gospel to Converge to Jerome's Dream. And sometimes the tracks on this record also bring a sassiness and a franticness comparable to great groups like Blood Brothers, for example.

But by that same token, I wouldn't call this album an exercise in nostalgia or just a record that is simply looking to the past. It is a product of our modern times for sure, especially when you read the song titles, which read like the band certainly has a lot to say: "We're Corporatizing Polyamory". "It Rubs the Boycott Ketchup on its Brand New Slacks". And "This is Your Brain on Minimum Wage". And those are just a few.

And the band putting their thoughts and feelings out there on our current day dystopia doesn't stop there. It also crops up in the lyrics on the record, but also various spoken word passages that drop on tracks like the
Whispers Catastrophe" interlude or the track "That is the Land of Lost Content", which is maybe the most intelligible of the entire LP. And the lyrics read very much as being about getting robbed economically and socially of the promises that come with having a suburban upbringing, working hard, going to school, as the track just rattles off idyllic descriptions of a community and various rooms and areas of a home.

There are many other lyrics on the rest of this record that echo similar sentiments, though they don't necessarily ring through as clear much of the time. Often, the writing on this record hits with a lot of disparate references, bar after bar. To read what they're on ideologically can sometimes feel as overwhelming as the performances themselves on these tracks, which from end-to-end on this record are very impressive and incredible, to the point where I would say the very harsh, emo, violent production on this record actually is maybe a detriment to the experience a little bit because sometimes the guitar work, those noodley, mathy leads, some of the sung vocals, as well as the drumming are so good. They should not be caked in this much cacophony and distortion because, again, what I can pick up of the nuances in the band's playing and writing, it's just too good to not showcase as prominently as you possibly can.

I should also note the flow of this album is interesting because the record's progression contains contains a couple of tracks where they dive into these hardcore techno and underground raver detours. I don't know who in the band's tastes skew in this direction, but the cuts that do dabble in that sound pretty decent for what they are. It's just such a weird change of pace, but I guess at the very least, it does provide the album some semblance of versatility.

If there is one other issue with the record, it is that there is, I think, an issue with some of the tracks blending together, and that could be due to the production being so noisy a lot of the time. Conversely, though, the writing can be so good, it does make key tracks stand out. So certainly it's not all bad. Again, I'm not really sure what fully the origin of these electronic tracks are, but it could be interesting in the future to hear them mix into the band's bass line sound here in a way that doesn't feel so oil and water across the track list.

That being said, though, if Emma Goldman were to stick to a more straight up post-hardcore and screamo direction, already they're displaying the musical chops to keep that alone interesting. For something that is so extreme, it is showing an impressive amount of versatility as vocally, again, you're getting sung passages, you're getting spoken word bits, you're getting throat-shredding screams, out and out shrieks, guitar work that ranges from sinister chords, really sharp attention, grabbing leads, and also super chunky metallic riffs that are just built for the mosh pit.

And the drumming on the record is really just like the powerhouse of so many of these tracks. Man, there was one part of this record that hit with a snare roll that was so goddamn tight. I was like, holy crap, my head's about to pop.

Some of the more low key and harmonious passages written into these songs when they are there are pretty decent as well.

So yeah, even at this very early stage, while I may not be totally in love with this record, and I am left a little bit wanting more, I think Emma Goldman still has a lot to offer here and is definitely going to be a band to watch in the near future. And again, fair warning. This is a very harsh, abrasive album, a very unforgiving album. It's very grimy, it's very nasty, it's very underground, but the music and writing is speaking to a certain disillusionment and despondence. So I mean, it does absolutely fit the Bill.

But, yeah, respect. Respect. Shout out to Emma Goldman on this very solid and surprising, entertaining project with a few hardcore techno detours. Currently, I'm feeling a decent to strong 7 on this thing.

Anthony Fantano, Emma Goldman. Forever.