Artist: febuary, the four-piece of vocalist and guitarist Rila Ogawa, vocalist and guitarist Airon Gauuf, drummer Abby Walker, and bassist Italy Jones

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Buzz: “This EP is more than just music — it’s our heart, our struggles, and our journey as women / individuals in an industry that’s never been easy,” reads febuary’s introduction to their newly-released extended play, Run Like A Girl, posted on the band’s Instagram. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve heard something truly resonating and more so — authentically emotively — beyond already-established DIY screamo and emo torchbearers within the scene, but the Las Vegas quartet really picked their moment to make a statement with their breakthrough offering.

And they’ve been through some shit in their short time as a band just a year removed from releasing their debut album, to say the least. They’ve momentary broken up, had their share of band members coming and going, and more recently, attempts at ex-members trying to stir up some drama. Like any DIY emo/punk/hardcore/post-hardcore/screamo/whatever-you-want-to-categorize-it-as band in the scene, it’s been a rite of passage to essentially have been nearly killed before the world has even heard you, but thankfully, Run Like A Girl is a testament to their perseverance.

The music itself absolutely rips your heart out, more importantly. Their strength is in the nascent interiors of their music that very much feels like a band building their own foundation of sound through basement and bedrooms walls, and now into the studio (Jack Shirley, studio guru of past Deafheaven, Gouge Away, and Loma Prieta work, mixed and mastered the EP) where gloss and precision isn’t yet needed. The raw, live hiss, the heavy breathing, and the switch-ups from serrated vocals to extra-punctuated spoken word is what makes the emotions bleed through to the listener in an unfiltered earnestness. That they’ll be opening this year’s Sound and Fury fest makes total sense: while the punk and hardcore communities have made progressive strides over recent years to be more inclusive, the greater boys club industry of it is still out there. With Run Like A Girl, you can hear the febuary show up to the fight to be seen and heard as they are.

Sound: Discovering your love of aggressive, passionate, and violently loud emo-core. Again.

Recommended: “I Hope Everyone Remembers What You Were”, “I’m Fucking Bulletproof!!!”, and “Run Like a Girl” from their newly-released EP, Run Like a Girl, and last year’s debut album, February

febuary’s Run Like a Girl is available now.