''I Became Birds'' is a 2021 release by American

emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

band

Home Is Where Home Is Where is an American emo band from Palm Coast, Florida Palm Coast is a city in Flagler County, Florida. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 75,180, more than twice the 32,832 counted in 2000. The population was estimat ...

Reception

In ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', this was listed by the staff as one of the top 25 EPs of 2021, with Adam Feibel writing that "it feels like a fully realized epic of modern punk". (Despite the release's short length, the band considers it to be their debut LP.) Ian Cohen of

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music publication (currently owned by Condé Nast) that was launched in 1995 by writer Ryan Schreiber as an independent music blog. Schreiber started Pitchfork while working ...

rated this album an 8.0 out of 10, writing that the band "channels a sense of boundless possibility" and summing up that this release "feels like emo once again flipping the switch on its eternal energy source"; the venue would list it among the best rock albums of 2021.

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

' Michael Frank Lukich calls this music "therapeutic" and compares the music favorably to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

, and

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...

, rating it an 8 out of 10. Nina Corcoran of

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several award ...

named Home Is Where a "Band to Watch" for "the pitch-perfect decisions of their songs" on this release. The site also listed this 8 on the 50 best albums of 2021 on June 8, with critic Julia Gray calling it "a parade of harmonicas, strings, horns, and acoustic guitars", with lyrics that include "breathless images and musings" and vocals made up of "whispers mutating into guttural yelps".

Track listing

All songs written by Home Is Where, with lyrics by Brandon MacDonald. #"l. ron hubbard was way cool" – 1:40 #"long distance conjoined twins" – 3:27 #"sewn together from the membrane of the great sea cucumber" – 4:46 #"the scientific classification of stingrays" – 2:19 #"assisted harakiri" – 4:30 #"the old country" – 2:05

Personnel

Home Is Where *Josiah Gardella – drums *Trace George – guitar *Brandon MacDonald – singing, harmonica,

singing saw A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is a hand saw used as a musical instrument. Capable of continuous glissando (portamento), the sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a plaque f ...

*Connor "Fat Slaps" O'Brien – bass guitar Additional personnel *Matt Goings – synthesizer, tambourine, mixing, production, mastering *Ellie Kovach –

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desce ...

*Wes Meadows – horns *Christiana Patterson – violin *The Puppy Petter Choir – backing vocals on "swen together from the membrane of the great sea cucumber" **Haley Craycraft **Josiah Gardella **Trace George **Matt Goings **Emily James **Brandon MacDonald **Connor "Fat Slaps" O'Brien **Christiana Patterson

Reception

Track listing

Personnel

See also