i already posted in a group about this band, but i figured id make a blog post about them too. consider it an ongoing series, in fact, because i have a lot to say about them and its sort of my mission in life to help them achieve the worldwide acclaim they deserve.

the brave little abacus is a band from new hampshire. they formed, i believe, in 2008; they broke up in 2012. in that time they released one split, two eps, and two lps. their discography is exceedingly perfect. theyre ostensibly an emo band, with some lovely emotional lyrics and occasionally some fun, pop-punk sort of sounds, but they also use video game samples, sitcom and anime dialogue lines, keyboards, synths, mathy rhythms, and a vocalist (adam demirjian -- hes a super nice guy, ive talked to him, and an amazing lyricist) who sounds like if spongebob had a heavy lisp.

possibly the most interesting thing about this band, to me, is the fan culture. they have about 13k listeners on last.fm last time i checked. it was probably closer to 9k when i started listening about a year and a half ago, so their audience is slowly growing. this is a pretty low number, though, considering a popular band like radiohead has almost 5 million. but... i dare you to find a more dedicated fanbase. among people who listen to them regularly, ive found very few people who didnt encounter them and quickly become obsessed. i even did a survey about it! i found that 80-90% of brave little abacus fans discovered the band, felt intrigued enough to listen a few times, had the music click, and now feel that every song was written specifically for them. we have a discord and are known to re-consume every piece of abacus-related media on a weekly basis, make paintings based on their songs, discuss phrases of lyrics with astonishing depth -- wait, some of that might just be me. anyway.

the lyrics are probably the most special aspect of the band for me. theyre amazing sonically. the music is the sonic description of an anxiety attack. but the lyrics are the worded description. when i discuss them, i always end up coming back to one thought: theres no way to explain what this means in words, except for the way adam already described it. how else can i explain "i know im not the only one who takes the ground that he steps upon and throws it to the sky in an attempt to answer all the 'i wonder whys'" or "every time i cry about your transience i replace you with the thought of the growing moon as i climb towards it, tell myself its not too late" other than the way theyve already been explained? i get freaked out, sometimes, at the fact that these lines seem to have been plucked directly from my subconscious -- these lyrics have sometimes predicted my life. "the way youre smiling like theres something on your mind, the fact this scene is out of a film"... thats taken straight out of my life. its amazing. its an amazing feeling to have your thoughts and feelings set right in front of you without you having to do the work to dig for them.

the first time i heard them i was in germany. i was going to a concentration camp. i fell in love with someone who never really gave a sh*t about me. and i didnt know why, but the band spoke to me in a way nothing else had, and i listened to almost nothing else for a month. ive heard that album over a hundred times now. ive heard their other lp over a hundred times, too. i should probably try to stop being crazy.

so, yeah. i would recommend the brave little abacus to anyone who cares about anything. give "just got back from the discomfort--were alright" a try. listen to it somewhere special, maybe when youre taking a long drive at dusk. i promise youll hear something there, even if it doesnt click right away. listen a couple more times. then find that youve found such a deep bond with this record its like an actual human friendship. its more reliable and more fulfilling, anyway.