There was a time near the tail end of the 20th century when being “emo” didn’t mean piercing your eyelids and swooping your hair over to one side like some kind of mall-goth Donald Trump. We’re talking ’93, ’94, and ’95, when bands like Sunny Day Real Estate and the Promise Ring were helping put the genre on the map. Formed in Champaign, Illinois, in 1994, Braid was another seminal post-hardcore/emo outfit, but by 1999 its members had disbanded and gone on to form the Firebird Band and Hey Mercedes.
Since then Braid has flirted with reunion shows every blue moon or so, but their 2011 EP, Closer to Closed, sounded more forced than inspired. Fast-forward to 2014, and No Coast marks more than just the band’s first full-length album in 16 years—this time it’s a proper return to form.