By Joseph Diehl
In 2020, “Your Arms Are My Cocoon” released their debut EP under the same name.
Originally comprised of just a solo artist, Tyler Odom quickly made a name for himself with the
EP’s interesting “screamo pop” sounds, combining bright bedroom pop-like instrumentals with
screaming vocals that seemed to pierce through the tracks without ever overpowering them.
The unique sonic choices, emotional vocals, and lyrics quickly carved out a spot for this release,
among others, in what many would define as emo’s 5th wave. After the release of this EP and a
few other splits, Tyler would complete his first solo tour in 2022; shortly after the tour had
concluded, the decision was made to turn YAAMC from just a solo act into a full band. This
decision would enable the band to fully explore and experiment with their artistic vision when it
came time to release the first official Your Arms Are My Cocoon album. After just about four
years since the initial EP was released, we finally have been given “Death of a Rabbit”,
YAAMC’s first LP release.
On Death of a Rabbit, the band’s growth and comfort within their own sound really shine
through. Beginning with “Let’s Get Married,” the first track immediately sets the tone for the
album, with Odom’s soft vocals leading us into an expansive wall of sound. The next three
tracks on this album continue with this expansive sound, rarely giving the listener a moment to
catch their breath. One of my favorite tracks is “City on Fire (closeness),” as I feel it is one of the
best representations of this album as a whole and what YAAMC does so well. Rapidly switching
between different instrumentations, tempos, and vocal styles, the track never lets up for a
second. Much to my surprise, when this album was released, the 5th track on here is a 10
minute epic titled “Runner Duck”. It is easily one of the highlights of this album, beginning with
just a simple ukulele track and the signature screamo vocals, which build into the middle of the
track where the song switches between rhythms, creating an almost overwhelming but
incredibly enjoyable experience. Finally, the track settles around the 8-minute mark, leaving us
with a simple melody as Tyler Odom narrates a spoken word outro and reflects on love that
simply couldn’t work for him. After this track, the next 3 songs continue to play on the sounds of
the album’s first half, with one of my favorites, “City in Ashes,” returning to what feels like an
almost lo-fi sound reminiscent of the original EP. Lastly, tracks like “Houston” and “Husk”
highlight some of my favorite qualities of this band and what they’re really capable of, making
use of Odom’s non-screaming vocals with emotional instrumentals to create these almost
gut-wrenching ballads. These two songs elicit a similar reaction in me that “Metamorphosis”
does from the original EP, which has quickly become one of my favorite tracks of all time.
This is what I love so much about YAAMC and why I think they’re such a special band.
They have the ability to constantly switch between styles on tracks and within the project as a
whole, and it never once seems not to make sense. We saw glimpses of that on the original
release, but in “Death of a Rabbit,” this really shines brightly. The screaming vocals can
sometimes be hard to understand, but if you take a moment to look at the lyrics and understand
what Tyler Odom is saying, you can find real beauty in the harshness that encompasses the
screaming. Reflecting on heartbreak, loss, major change in one’s life, and one’s own individual
evolution, this album invokes such powerful emotions in such a powerful way. I waited so very
long for this album to be released, and I couldn’t be happier with what has been made of it.
