Just when I thought the 2022 album release cycle was over, we got this well-crafted LP from Boston-based slowcore band Husbands (Aidan Page, Patrick Kenny, Bradford Krieger, Logan Kramer, Katie Rose Byrne). A Diary Index is the group’s fourth LP and is released today on Exit Records. 

Tracked over just seven days in October 2021, ADI has a no-frills, Steve Albini snapshot-of-a-band quality to it. There is a cohesive sound throughout, making this an album with a capital ‘A.’ The space between the instruments and vocals in the mix leave plenty of room for subtext, which lends itself to repeat listens. 

Picture by Ben Stas

Slowcore staples abound: plodding beats, pendulous guitar lines, and plaintive vocals. It adds up to more of a slow burner than a firestarter. Not until the third track do we get the first upbeat tune,“Hanging Halo.” Addiction is explored with the album opening lyric, “It’s a good morning in America to try to disappear.” The title track is the peak of the intensity, cresting back down for the back half of the album and closing with “Instrumental.”

The band has shifted their approach throughout their oeuvre, which dates back to their first release in January 2016. Husbands’ latest offering is divorced from the band’s early shoegaze impulses, as they’ve exceedingly separated themselves from their signature wall-of-sound with every new release. Instead of shoegaze, Husbands have swapped in cleaner tones and sincere vocals akin to Midwest emo bands such as Mineral. But emo is punk adjacent, and the tempos in ADI are far removed from that genre, so slowcore is still the dominant flavor, making the sound all their own. 

Stream A Diary Index by Husbands below: