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Sometimes, it takes more than one attempt to get things right. Take a look at Braid—the revered Illinois indie-rock band widely considered a pillar of second-wave emo, alongside similarly influential acts The Get Up Kids, the Promise Ring and Jimmy Eat World. But Braid were different—less overtly poppy and more urgent than their contemporaries, built on the off-kilter interplay between co-frontmen Bob Nanna and Chris Broach. It was this ever-present tension that drove the band apart barely a year after their genre-defining album Frame & Canvas, coming to an end in August 1999. But with time comes perspective, and in 2010, the band eventually rediscovered not only their passion for their old music, but their desire to create something new.

“The idea of doing this record really came about when Bob and I were DJing in Chicago together,” says vocalist/guitarist Chris Broach. “We decided we really wanted to start playing music together again. We actually started a separate band for a while before realizing we just wanted to write another Braid record.” The reunion was formalized with the release of No Coast, then their first full-length in sixteen years, now an essential component of their catalog. It’s an immediate, energetic album that completely eschews the understated reunion record expectation due in large part to Braid’s rhythm section—Todd Bell (bass) and Damon Atkinson (drums)—who have played in lockstep with one another for more than 20 years.

You don’t have to be a music industry insider to know that there’s currently a desire for ‘90s revivalism, with hordes of defunct bands coming out of the woodwork to do one quick lap on the festival circuit and get the praise they always deserved but never earned their first time around. But Braid knew from the start that this was never meant to be a cash-in reunion. With the ten-year anniversary of No Coast, it’s clear this isn’t where Braid’s story ended—it’s where a new chapter began.

“I hope No Coast can be an introduction for people who haven’t heard Braid before,” says Broach. “It’d be great if some of the old fans were into it as well, but we want to grow as a band. We worked hard on this record. We want it to be the album people listen to; the one where they go, ‘That’s the one.’”

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