Much like being labeled an “emo band” was a damning indictment a decade ago, the recent resurgence in bands that pull influence from the genre’s originators has brought about talk of an “emo revival.” In the process, any band with an inkling of introspection or predisposition toward profundity has gotten the term thrown at it, and perhaps no band has been forced to fight against it more than Chicago’s Their / They’re / There. The band got instant attention for featuring Evan Weiss (Into It. Over It., Pet Symmetry), Mike Kinsella (Owen, Cap’n Jazz), and Matt Frank (Loose Lips Sink Ships, The Para-medics) but the debut EP it released on Record Store Day was as versatile and vital as any other debut this year.
This summer the band made the trek to Lawrence, Kansas to record with engineer Ed Rose, whose retirement at the end of this year inspired the trek. The result is Analog Weekend, a three-song EP recorded to analog tape and released jointly through Polyvinyl Records and Topshelf Records. The EP’s lead track (“Curtain Call”) is the band’s most straightforward, recalling the members’ other acts while never losing site of its ability to wrap intricate musicianship around a punk rock ethos. Listen to “Curtain Call” below, and the album can be pre-ordered from either of the labels.