Wouldn’t it be really funny if our review for We Were Blank‘s latest album, BLANK, was just… *blank?*
…
BLANK is out as of August 8th, 2025. Check it out on Bandcamp for a very reasonable “name your price” option, or, find it on your favorite streaming services.
Just kidding.
We Were Blank has been kicking around Buffalo for a while now. They’ve been both a three-piece and a quartet, born out of a Craigslist ad and having too much time on their hands… But perhaps the most important part of their existence is that they simply continue to make music. Buffalo musicians have this habit of borrowing musicians from other bands – you may recognize some of that happening here with fellow emo-ish act (and frequent buffaBLOG feature) Amateur Hockey Club. Whatever it takes, right? Either way, these guys ended up with BLANK – a five-song EP bridging the gap between emo and pop punk. Heavy on feelings, melodic on vocals – that’s what makes BLANK our Album of the Week.
The album kicks off with “Blame,” a nice introduction to their particular brand of emo. Fans of Tiny Moving Parts, Marietta, and Have Mercy will find lots to enjoy here. Their guitars shuffle between twinkly and sludgy. The vocals have a youthful drawl, just-far-enough removed from the Tom Delonge accent to deliver heartfelt lyrics with sincerity. By mid-song, WWB has cranked up the distortion and syncopated their drum hits – they have a great way of giving their songs movement in a genre that thrives off of constant emotional peaks and valleys.
There’s a bit of the fun, bouncy side of pop-punk on BLANK too. While we wouldn’t classify the wry, descending chord progression of “Summer Bones” as “fun” per say, it does give side-eye energy as WWB yearns for the return of their, you guessed it, summer bones. It’s on full display on EP closer (and album highlight) “Ashing on the Floor.” It’s swung with the same swagger of a song like “Housebroken” by The Hotelier (and the thought of ashing your cigarette of choice on the floor is emo/punk as fuck), but beyond that, the wonky rhythm here is refreshing and interesting… And as they launch into the whoa-oh gang vocals, it feels like they have as firm a grasp on this genre as any of their national contemporaries.
Where We Were Blank succeeds most, however, is somewhere between these extremes. “Two Left Feet” has that emo magic – an unbridled, pop-punk energy paired with a hint of sadness and longing, letting those Midwestern twinkly guitars shine while they boast unabashed vocal hooks. It’s a close one/two finish with “Basement;” with its gritty bass intro and undeniable chorus melodies, it’s a wonderful place to start for the WWB uninitiated.
Usually I’d summarize the review here but I already did that up above when I was riffing on BLANK-related humor. Just in case, the bandcamp link to BLANK is right below this. Click it.
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