Awful Din opens their second album ANTI BODY with an autobiographical account of what they call “one of the worst Christmases in recent history.” A night of drinking and friendly revelry ended with an explosive basement fight loud enough that they worried about cops showing up. The band—combining late 90s/early 00s emo introspection with pop-punk energy and what Dying Scene calls “vocal twinges akin to folk-punk”—turns the incident into what they describe as “awkward, honest, catchy” documentation of volatile relationships that define youth.
Understanding “GTFO My Basement”
The title works as both command and punchline—evicting someone from your basement during Christmas festivities while they’re feeling confined and acting transgressively isn’t very festive, as the narrator acknowledges. The timeline is compact: someone ran away after the caroler’s song, apologetic uncertainty follows (“Sorry if we did something wrong”), then screaming loud enough to warrant intervention. The request to stop comes not from concern but pragmatism: worried the neighbors might call the cops.
The final lines offer the most cutting observation: “I bet you can pick up the pieces / Somewhere that’s not here.” It’s not reconciliation or genuine concern—it’s admitting this person might recover but demanding they do it elsewhere. The band notes this represents “a very specific type of volatile relationship – one most people who have ever been young should recognize.” That’s the dangerous part—the familiarity of explosive arguments that end with basement evictions, where everyone’s behavior was transgressive but only one person gets kicked out, where apologies arrive mid-confrontation but don’t prevent escalation.
Awful Din’s “gritty emo-punk” captures the specific awkwardness of holiday gatherings gone wrong, where festive expectations collide with unresolved tensions, and everyone’s too drunk to navigate gracefully.
Interested in reading more about unabashed youth? Check out Barely Relevant’s “Bad Habits”
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