Records: Braid's Frame & Canvas

By Hrishikesh Hirway

Emo is making a breakthrough. Bands like the Promise Ring and Sunny Day Real Estate are paving the way in the commercial world, appearing on MTV and in Intel Music Festivals as the latest splash in the mainstream pool. But quietly in the background sit the emo kings, Braid. To those for whom the term "emo" is more than just the latest buzzword, Braid are the unsung heroes of melody and noise and skinny crybaby boys.

Braid's newest album, Frame & Canvas, was released this summer and is proving to be the best thing I've heard all year. It's backed by the genius of J. Robbins. In the wake of Jawbox's demise, Robbins has turned to produce some of the biggest emo albums to date, including Texas Is the Reason's Do You Know Who You Are? and the Promise Ring's Nothing Feels Good (which spawned the first emo video on MTV)--and this is his best work yet.

Braid pack power and pop and noise together better than anyone--it's a good thing Fugazi has been moving away from this territory, or else they would finally have some stiff competition.

Frame & Canvas is the product of a more mature Braid. Their first two albums are so heavy at times that they're indistinguishable from hardcore, and their abrupt time changes are interesting, though sometimes jarring and incomprehensible.

But the strengths of those first albums, a whirlwind of distortion and screaming and straight-up pop, are retained in Frame, along with Braid's intelligent, clever lyrics. This time, though, everything has been smoothed into a more accessible sound. Which doesn't mean Braid has become watered down: one listen to the mind-blowing drum beat that introduces the album will prove their mettle.

And yet, while being one of the most ingenious and well-liked bands among those who know them, they have yet to gain the popularity of some of their contemporaries.

They sing, "We must be gathering speed here for something/ Trained for these tracks but afraid of the freight and it doesn't get played on the radio." Not yet it doesn't, but emo, the word of the day, is slowly appearing on more and more lips. Chances are that Braid will be no further than a turn of the dial. (Polyvinyl)

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