Broken Record

Over the past several years, Broken Record has gone from DIY basement emo project to a full-fledged indie rock band. After touring the west coast and writing a new album, recording presented an interesting dilemma: do we continue our do-it-yourself approach or should we try something new? For this newest album, their third LP, the band enlisted the help of Justin Pizzoferrato (Dinosaur Jr., Wild Pink, Dazy) to produce and engineer. Pizzoferrato’s new perspective and excitement around the music helped Broken Record make something that still captures the band’s penchant for writing fuzzed-out emo but turns it into something more dynamic. Lead single “T-60” is a perfect example, taking its undeniable chorus melody and lifting it to new heights before an unholy amount of feedback screeches in on the guitar solo. Throughout the record, the band taps into influences like The Cure and Title Fight while adding in the intensity of early Sonic Youth and Sunny Day Real Estate. Routine itself is about that urge for something new, something better, and recognizing that the status quo has to change. Whether it’s someone else capitalizing on your work (“Do It Yourself”), the impossibility of retirement (“No Vacation”), or recognizing your own faults (“Nervous Energy”), the ideal world is right there if small steps are made. On Routine, Broken Record are willing to take those small steps but they’re also remembering that you can still be “DIY” even if you can’t do it all yourself.