Artist: First Day Back, the five-piece of vocalist and violinist Maggie, guitarists Nathan and Zio, bassist, Luke, and drummer Spencer

Location: Santa Cruz, CA

Buzz: Whether you missed out on first reading about them on r/emo several months ago, were only recently surprised to see their album named as the second best of Pitchfork’s 30 Best Rock Albums of 2025 without ever seeing their name previously been mentioned on the site, or were piqued by your own discovery upon noticing them in the mix of a lot of great names within Run for Cover Records’ quickly approaching Something In the Way fest lineup, it turns out that right now would probably be the ideal time to get to know First Day Back, for your own heart’s sake.

Post-holiday mode back to the daily grind. Cold, isolating weather forecasted indefinitely. The subsequent depletion of vitamin D in your body that goes along with it. In all likeliness, all of this colludes to have you reaching for your favorite emo classics in the most proper sense. Though the quintet hails from the sun-soaked surf and skate communities of Santa Cruz, they’ve really studied up on how to get deep into the feels in the most timeless sense with a fresh take on it. Consider their debut breakthrough, Forward, a new classic.

Despite their west coast origins, the listen is remarkably Midwestern in its emotive punk poet screams. Scratched homemade studio production has the whole thing sounding like a mixtape from an ex, and stylistically, the band is indifferent toward everything that became of the scene past 1999 in their delicate balance between melodic indie rock and post-hardcore bursts à la Rainer Maria, early Jimmy Eat World and — duh, Braid, who have a song the band is name after — occasionally adorned in soft violin. It’s something much needed after the last few invented waves ultimately came to lost their concrete shape. A double entendre in title, if you will, that in looking backward, First Day Back are turning the next page for emo’s future.

Sound: The Emo Diaries, remastered and expanded with modern day anxieties.

Recommended: “Sure, OK”, “Gone On”, “Wait, Did You Hear That?” off their 2025 debut full-length, Forward

First Day Back’s Forward is available now.