In the early ’90s, California was exploding with music culture, specifically in hip-hop. From Snoop Dogg to Tupac to Dr. Dre to The Pharcyde, this would be one of the golden ages for the genre.
However, something else was brewing in San Diego’s punk scene: the new sub-genre known as screamo. Screamo would later influence, Your Arms are My Cocoon’s “death of a rabbit,” an under-the-radar band’s latest album.
Pioneered by bands like Heroin, Antioch Arrow, Portraits of the Past and Swing Kids, screamo gained popularity through its lead singers screaming the lyrics to their songs. While incoherent at first, when you look closer at the lyrics, they become all the more vulnerable, and it’s with this juxtaposition of emotions that the genre would gain traction, while still not being mainstream.
First originating as a solo project from Chicago artist Tyler Odom in 2020, he aimed to blend different genres under the umbrella genre of punk music on “death of a rabbit.” Odom would blend screamo vocals with mid-west emo and alternative-indie instrumentation to create a new sub-genre dubbed screamo pop. All these genres created an emphasis on the homemade elements of music, which are extremely prevalent on the album.
Throughout its 40-minute duration, you get a very nostalgic feel as if you’re in a coming-of-age film. “I like the vocals, but the instrumentals are very nostalgic,” says Zooey Ford-Burris, a junior at Ida B. Wells High School. “It reminds me of the Zelda video game soundtracks. I think the best example is on ‘Illinois/Alberta.’” Ford-Burris says the songs remind her of songs played primarily in “Rio Village” from the video game “Zelda: Breath of the Wild.”
More specifically, adding ot this feeling of nostalgia, she adds, “There’s a slight dinging noise in the background, which makes them more uplifting in a way. It’s nice. Compared to ‘American Football,’ the instrumentals keep you down, while [Your Arms are my Cocoon’s instrumentals] are high-pitched, keeping it lighter,” says Ford-Burris.
The album’s consistent themes of growth, grief, loss of innocence, harshness of life and the complexity of love and fleeting relationships clearly show the atmosphere and perspective from the start, and are explored more in songs like “death of a rabbit,” “let’s get married” and “runner duck.”
With lines such as “I’ll be waiting here for a while, this just can’t be real my dear, let me drive you home, your fingerprints still dress my skin,” and “Lavender, is a beautiful color, it paints our sky, I will meet you there,” a naivety that only comes during adolescence is created.
While some may find that the traditional screamo-executed vocals are unsavory, they convey a raw expression of human emotion, pouring out vulnerable insights. “Music is at its best when unchanged, [the] best example [comes from] third wave emo bands, the first album is always going to be the best, because it conveys their emotion [unapologetically] but as other external factors join the creative process, so like company producers and executives, they make music that’s not true to themselves,” says Ford-Burris.
To this effect, the rough and bare vocals create an even more intimate listening experience between the artist and listener. This intimacy grows beyond just the raw emotion of the album, but also lies in the number of monthly listeners the group has.
Due to their little-known presence in mainstream music, listeners often enjoy having a band that only they are familiar with, and their uniqueness. “There’s a certain beauty in a niche. The moment it stops being for me and starts to become content for everyone else, I start to lose interest,” says Asa Gallop, an IBW senior.
“The band is more innovative and has lots of perspective. Not having a true punk band in the mainstream is hurting people’s palettes. [It’s] important to diversify your taste, listen to different genres. No punk band’s really hitting the charts right now,” says Gallop. “The songs I really like are ‘let’s get married’ and ‘death of a rabbit,’ [they have a common theme where they] go slow and explode, crescendoing into a wave of envelopment.”
Your Arms Are My Cocoon’s album “death of a rabbit” is one rooted in vulnerability and nostalgia for lost times. Creating an ambiance with the use of Midwest emo instrumentals infused with screamo-executed vocals, the album takes you back to or allows you to savor a simpler yet complicated time in your life, resulting in a project and band that should be talked about for years to come.
