In my time listening to music under the umbrella genre ‘punk’ there have been numerous albums that have captured my attention and actually made me feel something beyond listening to dope music. As a fan of the band Arm’s Length, I already felt that way about many of the songs off of their first two EP’s (What’s Mine Is Yours and Everything Nice respectively). But then, on October 28th, 2022, Canadian emo band Arm’s Length released their first full length album.
To go along with the one-year anniversary of this album, the band released the entirety of their album release show on YouTube which is an amazing look into what an Arm’s Length show is about. The community that this band has been able to build over the few years they have been together really shows the power of the community and its reach.
This album is truly a top to bottom masterpiece and in my opinion, is my generation’s version of The Hotelier’s ‘Home Like No Place Is There’. It has been just over a year since the album came out and since, has easily made its way to being my favorite album of all time with no signs of slipping. If you haven’t had the chance to listen to this album by now, I hope this article will make you a fellow Arm’s Lengther.
Rather than a traditional album review, I will be highlighting some of my favorite elements of this work.
First of all, this is not a happy album. It is an incredibly sad, introspective look at growing up and making mistakes. It kicks off with the song ‘Overture’ a quiet start of a guitar riff and vocalist Allen Steinberg’s haunting vocals. “I’m breaking bones and you’re signing my cast, that’s exactly how you’ll wind up dead.” A perfect tone setter for the rest of the album before exploding into a full band medley that lets you know what kind of listen you are in for.
Aries (Moth Song) is one of my favorites. I like any song with a fun time signature and this one makes great use of changing between half and full time in its chorus. It also has some of my favorite lyrics from the whole album, “You connect my dots, and my beauty spots, ‘till you’re seeing stars wherever I could not,” this band just has a way with lyrics that I have never connected with from any other.
Another fan favorite follows with ‘Tough Love’ and it is also one of the two songs from the album that got a music video (Object Permanence being the other). It is also one of the slower songs on the album tempo-wise, but that takes nothing away from the power and vibes of the song. “What if this all pans out like you said, and I outlive all my family and friends?” asks Steinberg. As you can imagine, this is one of the more gut-wrenching songs on the album. It hits on a fear that many of us have without even thinking about. What if you were the only one left of everyone you know, it makes you want to cherish time with your loved ones even more than we already do.
Up next, is ‘Formative Age’ which is my favorite on the album. Arm’s Length does an amazing job at letting their songs punch you in the gut not only lyrically with devastating songs, but also by the music itself being relentless. This is another song with a breakdown towards the end that adds that extra little bit of song depth to just take it over the top.
‘Family And Friends’ is a starkly different vibe from the rest of the album. Being a very striped down song with programmed drums and only minimal guitars over more haunting vocals. I really liked that they stepped out of their usual sound with this song, and it is a well needed intensity break as the penultimate song for this groundbreaking album.
Finally, ‘Dirge’. This is a 100% perfect song on a 100% perfect album. It is the best album closer I have heard since ‘I Just Want to Sell Out My Funeral’ by The Wonder Years off of The Greatest Generation album. It again starts off relatively simple and calm. We get a calm verse and a break in the song that absolutely blows up into what I can only describe as a beautiful amalgamation of everything Arm’s Length is about. This song references at least four previous songs from the album with its lyrics which is my absolute favorite thing a closing track can do. I just can’t think of a better way to cap off this monumental album in the emo community.
This is still my favorite album I have listened to even after a year and I don’t expect anything to be taking the top spot any time soon. I really feel that Arm’s Length staked their claim in the music world with this release, and I cannot wait to hear what they do next.
The Diygest 
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