The Traditional – How To Live Without Blood

The Traditional How To Live Without Blood is the debut full-length from the Buffalo, NY band, an emo-inflected indie rock and pop-punk record that ANCHOR EIGHTY FOUR released with the understanding that Buffalo produces bands who mean what they say when they say it.

The Band

The Traditional came out of Buffalo’s active underground scene with a sound that sits at the intersection of emo, indie rock, and pop-punk. Those three genres have overlapped for thirty years and the distinctions have blurred considerably, but what they share is a commitment to lyrics that carry emotional weight without ironic distance. The Traditional writes in that register. Heartfelt and honest are the words used to describe their lyrical approach, which is not marketing language when the music is actually doing what it claims. ANCHOR EIGHTY FOUR operates in this space with a label sensibility that recognizes the difference between bands that posture in the genre and bands that inhabit it.

The Traditional How To Live Without Blood: The Album

How To Live Without Blood runs ten tracks from Skeletons through I’m Not Going Home With You. The album opens with Skeletons and moves through the title track, which states the record’s central emotional question directly. My Brother Is The Sea and Marilyn are the album’s middle section, where the band takes the time to develop the guitar work beyond what pure pop-punk requires. Disaster and Do You Miss Me Yet? demonstrate the band’s range. Haunt You and Constant Battle (Let It Go) build toward Run and the closing I’m Not Going Home With You, which ends the album honestly rather than resolved, which is the right call for material operating in this register.

ANCHOR EIGHTY FOUR and the Format

ANCHOR EIGHTY FOUR is a label with a track record in emo and pop-punk releases that treat the format seriously rather than as a short-cycle commercial product. The CD release of a debut full-length from a band this specific about their sound is the right call. If you collect current emo and indie rock releases or follow the Buffalo underground scene, How To Live Without Blood is a debut that holds its argument across the full tracklist. It is the kind of record that rewards listening through rather than track-skipping.

Tracklist

1. SKELETONS
2. HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT BLOOD
3. MY BROTHER IS THE SEA
4. MARILYN
5. DISASTER
6. DO YOU MISS ME YET?
7. HAUNT YOU
8. CONSTANT BATTLE (LET IT GO)
9. RUN
10. I'M NOT GOING HOME WITH YOU