Little Green House, by ANXIOUS (2024)

1.

I frown, the best memories haunt meI frown at the mistakes that were flauntingSo tell me, I beg you one last time as a friendHow did we get here and why does this have to end?Feeling somethings leavingI can’t change what’s happeningYou said “you’re why this is sinking”No ones to blame, we both have changedAll the crying, chalk it all up to missing who you were trying to be the times I was closest to youSo is it me? Am I causing the worst of you?Go on man, you have everything to proveFeeling somethings leavingI can’t change what’s happeningYou said “you’re why this is sinking”No ones to blame, we both have changed

2.

Feel my tears wiped away from my hot faceSee you undo the stresses of the day butFor some reason I find I’m turning away fromLove you proved to last more than just a seasonHow could you know...How could you have known...To hold me as something more than a friendbut less than someone you can dependI wish I could erase your painThe kind that comes with April’s rainAnd washes me awayChoke on the loss of care that freedom bringsBut now see how your soul flies and it singsHow could you know...How could you have known...To hold me as something more than a friendbut less than someone you can dependI wish I could erase your painThe kind that comes with April’s rainAnd washes me awayYou’re calling upon meI’m nowhere to be seenAnd this thing that was called “we”Is nothing more than “you” and “me”

3.

I’ll take my time to see you from the other side.Oh, how your parents would be horrifiedTo see you peeling in the sunshine.As I’m getting older, the hate that I shoulder subsides.I don’t care at all.Have what you want put to bed, but don’t turn out the lights.I don’t care at all.One song, last dance, and see me from the other end.I bet you’d smile and ask “what’s happening?”I’d like to see you as an old friend.Still, all of my old friends turn.They see but they don’t learn.As I’m getting older, the hate that I shoulder subsides.I don’t care at all.Have what you want put to bed, but don’t turn out the lights.I don’t care at all.Maybe I’m just scared that you’re just who I met. And I’ve changed enough to question self instead this timeAs I get older, how it pains me to say that I want you.And I’m small to file and sort you, but it pains me to say that I want you.

4.

You exist as a letterThat sits up on my shelfAs a series of wordsI have to search to tell myselfSo I don’t have to faceYour beautiful lines that I can’t traceOr the things we sharedMemories how they fade just like the color in your hairThis is the day we’re moving onevery letter echoes itThe emptiness that’s I sit in since you’ve goneAnd it’s been a yearAnd every couple daysI think of three wordsI never got to sayBut they’ll sit in the storiesThat well both writeOf a being with brillianceAnd another lacking mightThis is the day we’re moving onevery letter echoes itThe emptiness that’s I sit in since you’ve gone

5.

When you tell me I’m more than enoughYou paint me in your loveWhat more can I say to youAnd prove you mean as much to me tooWhen I worry I don’t measure upYou tell me all the right words I don’t knowWhat more can I say to youAnd Is there anything that I can’t doSo well walk together hand in handYou’ll show me what it means to be a manAnd we’ll take time to rest when we’re oldIn those old rolling hills where we were bornI hope you know you were more than enoughwhen you’re watching me from aboveWhat more can I say to youIll see you in everything that I do

6.

Please talk to me, I can’t pull words off my chest.I’ve learned by heart how you violently smile at my awkward attempts.You left me speechless.Yeah, you left me a mess.I trip at the thought that you believe you’d want another safe bet.Why would you try and put up with me when I’m so heavy handed?You left me speechless.Yeah, you left me a mess.Yeah, You left me speechless.Yeah, you left me a mess.And I’m waiting, I’ll be lonely if you go knowing that you’re all I need.But I’m no one, and I feel empty, and you’ll go knowing that you’re all I need.

7.

Don’t cry, I’m here nowI want to help just say how long until I can finally breatheA breath of fresh airThat’s free of fear that’s free of care and of the pain that this home bringsAnd I’ll break at the words you screamHelping you kills a piece of meIt’s too hard to watch this fall all so clearlySo you won’t say a wordSuffering only overheardThrough stories told behind wallsGrasping at memoriesTo hold and try to see it, exactly where everything went wrongBut time fades these thingsYou and him both see it differently, it’s hard to say where you both belongAnd I’ll break at the words you screamHelping you kills a piece of meIt’s too hard to watch this fall all so clearlySo you won’t say a wordSuffering only overheardThrough stories told behind walls

8.

Oh I’ve noticed that It’s been a while since we last spokeAnd I’m wondering if you often feel that same lump in your throatThe one that keeps me from asking howhow you are and what you’re doing nowAnd I think about this a lot more than you think that I wouldAnd I’m Staring at our messages longer than I shouldit’s easier to pull at the stringsThan to just sit quiet and believeThat I’ve done nothing like it seems.This is all too much for meThis is all too much for meBut in the morning I’ll try again.

9.

I ran outside with no time to check my watch or I’d undo the purpose of keeping the time,But I did anyway, so I know I’ll be late, I don’t wanna lie.Treasured in your eyes.But you still smile, you’re indifferent, so I’m the child who still depends on small things like being on time,And you will either way, I can’t hide my mistakes from someone so wise.Treasured in your eyes.All I see is your afternoon, we are meant to leave.All that we share will come and go, we are meant to leave.I ran inside Central Station, where all my ties intersect and the 6:09 had just missed me.I swear I made the next train, I’ll never be late again.Treasured in your eyes, I fell in them.In the light of my kin, everything’s less broken.All I see is your afternoon, we are meant to leave.All that we share will come and go, we are meant to leave.Do I talk too much? Will you understand why I’m always gone and where I’ve been?Will you still smile?

10.

Keep focus. I’ll see you around. Don’t ever question who it is you’ve found.You’re perfect. You’re bleeding out of every tension, every last self doubt.No one will miss you when you’re gone, but I’ll still love you.In fifth grade, you hit your head when I pushed you off the patio’s stone end.And you made no sound. And before I caught you on your fall, you’re the ground’s.

While crafting Anxious’ new album, Little Green House, the Connecticut five-piece were afforded a luxury so few bands are when making their debut album: time. With extensive touring plans halted and regular life on pause, the band—vocalist Grady Allen, guitarists Dante Melucci and Ryan Savitski, bassist Sam Allen, and drummer Jonny Camner—headed into Allen’s mom’s basem*nt and reflected on each part of the material that would turn into their first record over and over again. The result is an artistic leap that, had the band’s plans to spend much of 2020 on the road actually been feasible, maybe wouldn’t have happened.

Formed in 2016 while members were still in high school, Anxious’ early releases were indebted to the urgent freneticism and heart-on-sleeve lyrics of post-hardcore acts like Texas Is The Reason, Samiam, and Turning Point, allowing Anxious to immediately grab the attention of the hardcore scene. The band’s DIY roots and dedication to craft were equally as essential to their rising profile—early releases were accompanied with band-dubbed cassettes, made-to-order zines, and even self-dyed shirts—each part of Anxious was laid out in meticulous detail from day one. Having almost immediately surpassed Allen’s modest ambitions of “playing a couple of shows,” Anxious quickly found a home on Triple B Records, gaining the attention and adulation of both the hardcore and emo scenes on the back of two seven-inch EPs and a pair of demos, getting them coveted spots on tours with genre-bending acts like Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, before landing on Run For Cover.

Named after the space in which the material was written, Little Green House sees Allen and Melucci exploring what it feels like to enter adulthood in unflinching detail. The pair unpack their struggles, joys, and hard-earned realizations in a way that makes them each feel wise beyond their years. “I think a lot of the record is a coming-to-terms, interpretive record about relationships with people and thinking introspectively,” says Allen. “I’m sure it’ll be a cliché very soon to say, ‘With all the time spent away, I was able to really think about things,’ but having that time ot sit and be introspective really does give you perspective on yourself, the relationships you have with other people, and that recognition that while you might all be interconnected—whether it’s your parents, your friends from high school, people you know through music—it’s bound to happen that you all have deeply individual and separate paths, and that’s okay.”

Recorded and produced by Chris Teti at Silver Bullet Studios, the diversity of perspectives on Little Green House is matched by the album’s ability to jump between sounds without ever feeling disjointed. The band’s commitment to their creative vision and exacting attention to detail is apparent, with Anxious going so far as to completely re-record the vocals until Little Green House was exactly the statement they wanted to make.

That devotion is clear from the very first notes of opener, “Your One Way Street.” Anxious sounds more deliberate than ever, with each riff pounding like a powerful declaration as Allen works through the emotions of watching one of his oldest friendships breaking apart, “I beg you, one last time as a friend / How did we get here and why does this have to end?” On “More Than A Letter” the band explores what it was like to watch a potential romantic relationship fall away because of outside pressures, and the energetic “Let Me” is a show of support from a child to a parent while watching them go through a painful divorce and features guest vocals from Pat Flynn of Fiddlehead. “I guess the idea behind the record is that coming to terms with who you are and accepting that,” says Allen. “Struggle, sadness, and pain aren’t necessarily negative things, but they are necessary things. There’s no shame or sadness put onto these feelings that you’re already experiencing. But there are positive, triumphant elements running through the album, too,” a feeling that’s best exemplified by the triumphant, and aptly titled, “Growing Up Song.”

While fans are used to Anxious’ infectious energy spilling into every song, the closing track “You When You’re Gone” shows a totally new side of the band. Where the raucous parts of the album recall Lifetime and Sense Field, this one’s pure dream pop bliss. Joined by vocalist Stella Branstool on the track, it gives Little Green House an expanded scope, one that showcases a band taking big swings and landing every single one of them.

“The goal wasn’t to create something that perfectly replicates a sound or an era,” says Allen. “It was just about us wholeheartedly trying to create something that felt distinctly like us and not worry for a second if it feels unfamiliar—we just wanted to create something that was unabashedly us.” On Little Green House, that’s exactly what Anxious did. They’ve made a record that captures the bittersweet feeling of returning to a place you grew up and realizing how the passing of time has changed you - a musical snapshot of who they were in an exact moment, and who they want to become now that they’re ready to move on.