Sometimes, I find the phrase ‘emotional hardcore’ to be redundant. Hardcore is hardcore because of the emotions attached to it. If punk bands want to capture melodies like The Beach Boys or The Congos there are longstanding templates from The Ramones and The Clash to filter punk angst through pop music. Hardcore was a response to that, the angrier and more aggressive side of punk. Of course it is emotional!
But then, screamo and emoviolence come through with bands like Blind Girls as a definitive reminder why these subgenres exist. The Gold Coast, Australia skramz outfit return with their third full-length album, An Exit Exists with razor sharp focus and a more expansive sound. This album places them in an upper echelon of the genre and makes a solid argument for the state of skramz in 2024. This has already been a great year for the genre with killer releases from Infant Island, Frail Body, and Our Future Is An Absolute Shadow, but An Exit Exists is a powerful contender for the top of the list. As a result, it is also an album I would point to if someone is less familiar with the genre as an example.
It isn’t strictly textbook skramz; in fact, it is better. Classic screamo bands like Circle Takes The Square and Orchid merge technicality with melodicism and strained rage, all hallmarks of the genre. Blind Girls does the same, but perhaps due to cleaner production or raw talent, they manage to make the chaos sound cleaner and tighter than the traditional skramz sound. I love the DIY ethos and hardcore roots of screamo, but An Exit Exists seems to display the nuances of the music better than most albums. There are moments, even in the opening track, “Dissonance,” that remind me of Every Time I Die hooks.
Blind Girls maintain all of the intensity that they had on their previous album, The Weight Of Everything (2022), but work in some greater textures, at times more ferocious, other times more subdued. Take the gentle guitar coda in “Blemished Memory” that carries us into the frantic Brand New meets Immortal blast beat and melody filled “Less Than Three”. Sharni Brouwer’s tortured vocals absolutely ooze pain and anguish throughout the album. When she screams, ‘Make Me Nothing!‘ on the track of the same name you can feel how cathartic it must be to let out the inner turmoil and anger.
Meanwhile, the rest of the band easily flexes Botch-like precision on tracks like “Closer To Hell” and “Lilac”. The combination of emotion and musical intensity calls to mind the grind/emoviolence of Closet Witch. “Death of an Unsung Thought” even works in some electronics into the mix to great atmospheric effect. The push and pull of circle-pit aggression and nuanced melodicism and atmosphere keeps us on our toes, one emotional wallop after another with just enough time to wipe the sweat off your brow. The tracks move speedily, but flow together very well.
In just shy of 22 minutes Blind Girls‘ An Exit Exists manages to feel like you’re in a passenger plane going into freefall, shocking turbulence, quiet moments of panic and fear, screaming all of your life out of your lungs so that you may perish with that clean, elegiac feeling of bodily catharsis and emotional depletion leaving nothing left but the high of adrenaline and the abyss of the unknown. Enjoy this brief, but satisfying feast for the ears loudly and proudly, for it is among the finest skramz this year.
