Broken Record Showcases "Stadium Emo" Sound on New Album

After Lauren Beecher and Corey Fruin moved to Denver from Connecticut, where they'd been in rock groups, it didn't take long for them to create a new four-piece, Broken Record.

Beecher (vocals and guitar) and Fruin (bass) were at a FAIM concert at Ratio Beerworks when they first talked with FAIM's Nick Danes (drums) about their idea for Broken Record. With FAIM's Matt Dunne on board as well, Broken Record formed in 2017.

But the band took a while to find its footing, given that "we had more of an East Coast sound at first," Beecher says. "And we had been in between some genres."

Broken Record has clearly found its place with its new release, Nothing Moves Me, a followup to 2020's I Died Laughing. Songs such as "Blueprinting" and "Mach 4" might have listeners thinking it was recorded someplace like Electric Lady Studios, but the band achieved the emotive sonics all on its own, independently recording and producing the ten-track album from the studio in Beecher and Fruin's basement.

"With both albums, I acted as main producer and main engineer," Beecher says. "We recorded everything but drums at our band's studio. But over the last few years, I have made it a personal mission to grow my skills in that area."

Her skills are already extensive. A friend of Beecher's coined the term "stadium emo" to describe the rock band's overall sound, and in the musical sphere, "stadium" is a pretty big compliment.

"It's got really big, dynamic guitars, anthemic vocals, drums and bass that groove when they're supposed to and just shred when they're supposed to," Beecher explains. "It's just big."

Big — and loud. Pulling inspiration from such bands as Jimmy Eat World, Gin Blossoms (Beecher says she basically learned to read from an album's lyric book), the Cure, Blink-182 and Descendents, Broken Record has the angst that drove those groups as well as the acumen to back it up. And while those influences are clear on Nothing Moves Me, the record shows that Broken Record can also step up to the level of those seminal bands. The Denver rockers are already in good company with Really Rad Records, the label that released the album on August 22. "We reached out to them. We had just seen that they've been putting out a ton of really cool emo releases," Beecher says. "And thankfully, they thought that our album was also very cool."

While the overall sound dips into varied genre pools, the result is completely cohesive. Beecher's vibrantly strong yet soothing vocals give an ethereal sway to the deep throws of grungy, heavy guitar, as heard on songs like "Round 2" and  "Blueprinting," which Beecher says is the bandmates' favorite track. As for the lyrics, "there are a lot of themes of navigating circumstances and figuring out how to make things work for you," Beecher explains. "Figuring out how to get distance from the things you need to get distance from, and taking things into your own hands in a positive way and finding personal growth within."

Broken Record has grown, too. Beecher is proud of how the album reflects the band's progress since its first release. "We're not holding back as much, I guess, not being afraid of leaning too far into an idea or a sound," she reflects. "I think we've become just, like, unabashedly weirder. Definitely more comfortable."

That came from focusing less on how to achieve a certain sound and more on leaning into their own instincts. "We just paid a lot more attention to what makes the song good, paying more attention to how songs we love were written, and all the stuff that goes into that," Beecher explains. "We wanted to raise the bar for ourselves."

Shoegaze-laced rock has seen a surge in Denver, along with punk and pop punk. Broken Record embraces all of those genres while concocting its own unique sound, and as more people hear the music, the more they're getting hooked. Being in a city with a healthy DIY and punk scene helps, too.

"We've met a lot of awesome folks, and yeah, it took us a little while to find our place, but I think we've started to get some more opportunities and make a little bit more of a name for ourselves," Beecher says, adding that DIY venue Seventh Circle "has been huge in that. We've met so many people through shows there. It rules." Broken Record often plays there as well as the hi-dive, and sometimes the Skylark and the Marquis.

"We've been going to hardcore shows and going to punk shows; we've been trying to find our peers in weird emo shoegaze-type stuff," Beecher continues. "And we've been finding folks even beyond Denver — just Colorado in general. We've found a lot of folks in Fort Collins."

That's where many punk bands have emerged, including the always thrilling Plasma Canvas, which will be playing Broken Record's album-release show at the Skylark Lounge on Friday, August 25, along with Replica City, of which Dunne and Fruin are also members. The fun doesn't stop there, though. "We're kind of making a weekend out of it," Beecher says. Broken Record will head to Colorado Springs the next night to play Vultures, and will round out the weekend with a show at Surfside 7 in Fort Collins.

Then the band will just keep doing what it does best: elevating emo music.

"I think first and foremost, it's about writing songs that we think are awesome and writing stuff we're proud of, and just growing — not only as people, but as musicians," Beecher says. "We all just want to do cool stuff. We want to do some more touring. We want to just get out there and see how far we can push this thing."

Nothing Moves Me is available on all streaming platforms. The Broken Record album-release show will be at 8 p.m. Friday, August 25, with Plasma Canvas and Replica City, at Skylark Lounge, 140 South Broadway; tickets are $12.