Nymb were a band out of Chicago, a city well known these days for its seemingly endless contributions to the emo revival scene. But that scene is founded on Chicago's deep roots in 90s emo, and I'm not just talking about the Kinsellas—plenty of emo bands had little to do with their noodly, math rock-inspired sound. Nymb were a part of the other midwest tradition, delivering late-period second wave emo in the vein of Sterling Silver, Rainer Maria, Pictures Can Tell, and other bands that hewed to the midwest sounds of the mid-90s. Unlike a lot of the later second wave bands that veered ever closer to indie rock, Nymb retained many of midwest emo's rougher edges in their music. Don't let the release date of their sole LP fool you; this is genuine midwest emo of the kind that could have easily been released five years earlier.
Nymb kicked off with the Novembre EP in 1998, following it up with an EP and 7" in 1999. The band called it quits just before releasing their only full length, 2001's So This Is How It Is. However, they also posthumously released two more EPs, Nothing New and The Breathing Out Vapors Single, in the same year. They were fairly prolific, considering the brevity of the band's existence, and they weren't around long enough to experience any major changes to their sound, so it's all one great package of that real midwest emo.
No comments:
Post a Comment