’…There’s not only plenty of ambition in how Stay Inside have created this record, but a real humanity that isn’t lost in the process of striving for an expansive sound…’
Arriving to your ears from Brooklyn, New York, Stay Inside are an emo and post-hardcore four piece that first appeared back in 2018. Since then, the band have released a collection of split records and EPs, along with their debut full-length back in 2020. Now, with their sophomore record, Stay Inside seem to have achieved some real traction among emo circles.
‘Ferried Away’ is a record that is conceptually designed around the original Steeplechase Park of Coney Island, which burned down in 1907. The band have described this location as the sort of place you yearn to go, yet never quite find the time, and use it as a limbo to suspend the ghosts of their past within; a place for friends, family and lovers that have slipped between the cracks of your life to remain between the moment you last departed, and the moment of one of your deaths.
For the most part, this concept is executed incredibly well. The lyricism is often charming, with the quaint quirkiness that is popular among the Midwest strains of emo, yet manages to still ensure that in the background of the festivities, the existential dread looms large, like memento mori written on a carnival signpost.
Take ‘An Invitation’ for example, with particularly incredible bars such as ‘I used to think I wouldn’t have to ask/But now I’ll meet you at a casket/Hope the flowers give us something to say/While we’re reckoning how this one got away’, and ‘Do you know whose move is next?/Are you hoping to forget?/When the invitation comes/Is it a wedding or a death?’. All of this bitter rumination is set against an electrifying musical performance, packing a powerful outro segment with walls of guitars, booming percussion, and impassioned, screamed vocals.
The lyricism is always careful, however, to address both sides of the story. Whilst some tracks do contain a bitter resentment that a friendship was allowed to die, others explore the awkward guilt of acknowledging that sometimes it is one’s own fault, or perhaps the fault of no one at all.
‘A Backyard’ is a great cut with infectious melodies and bouncing instrumentals that carry a real pop-punk vibe, all the whilst dealing with watching an old friend’s life bloom through adulthood, and not having the capacity to reach out and cross the unspoken gap that has formed between one another.
The versatility of the musicianship of Stay Inside is commendable across the span of this record. Certainly, there are plenty of tracks here that are easy to digest, with catchy lead melodies and punchy, straightforwards riffing. Yet it’s when the band truly explore their more experimental post-hardcore stylings that things truly bloom. The opener, ‘Bon Zs’, is a huge emo anthem, with gorgeous vocal harmonies layered over punchy riffs, rousing brass. There is particularly great vocal delivery through the back half, as the track slows before revving up once again into a dramatic closing passage
‘A Town To Give Up In’ features waltzing, swinging rhythms with deeply compelling vocal melodies, whilst ‘When’s the Last Time?’ packs an immense midsection that swirls around the listener. The band appear to grapple with the messy break-up of a friendship that you blame yourself for, delivering more brutal lyrics such as ‘Skip a farewell, then I’m off track/Never came by, what you call that?/Guess that I get what I give back’ and ‘Steal from the boatman when I go/See on my own if I can’t float/Guess that I’ll reap what I sow’. The final stanza features a particularly venomous and standout vocal delivery that differs starkly from the melancholy of much of the rest of the record.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that across the record, Stay Inside are joined by Matt Hull as a trumpet accompaniment, and this proved to be a superb creative choice. Hull’s performances add some much needed brightness to the weighty existential dread of the album, capturing the carnival spirit with his fantastic performances, whilst allowing the tracks to explore their heartfelt subject matters. A wonderful presence from start to finish.
It’s clear to see why many have lauded ‘Ferried Away’ as a fantastic modern emo record. There’s not only plenty of ambition in how Stay Inside have created this record, but a real humanity that isn’t lost in the process of striving for an expansive sound to explore a powerful concept.
The listener is positioned as both a viewer of and a racer in the steeplechase, breaking ahead or stumbling behind those besides them as they charge towards the grand finale, all the whilst existing as a series of ghostly memories in a funfair that no longer exists. Buy your popcorn, have some fun, but remember that nothing is forever.
RATING: 84/100 – Very Good
For Fans Of: Coheed & Cambria, La Dispute, mewithoutYou, Origami Angel, I Feel Fine
Physical copies of the album are available to purchase here.
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