Last week, Chicago’s emo sweethearts Your Arms Are My Cocoon returned once again to Iowa City, this time in the basement of someone’s house. Singer and guitarist Tyler Odom started the project from his own teenage bedroom, and released his first self titled EP in 2020. The EP employed a genre bending mix of subdued, bedroom pop style production and screamo vocals culminating in a new and inventive sound which quickly became a staple of the screamo genre. Since then, Odom has formed a band with three other members that often has been touring across the globe since they formed. They released their first album, death of a rabbit, in 2024. This album expanded on the combination of bedroom pop, alternative rock, and screamo as seen in their EP, but built upon this with a tighter production style while still maintaining the beloved DIY approach of their earlier work. The band concluded yet another leg of their essentially non-stop tour with their performance here in Iowa City at Frat House.
The Bands That Set The Mood
Before Your Arms Are My Cocoon took the stage, two other bands played which set the atmosphere for the night. At 7:00 o’clock, the band The Fall of Babylon from Dubuque, Iowa, began their set which involved deep and muddy bass notes, rich and grungy guitar power chords, and lively drum beats, which all laid under neath the harsh screamo vocals from their two lead singers. The multi-instrumentalist filled band readjusted instrumentation and singers after each song. The highlight of their set was the last song they played, which just involved an acoustic guitarist, and one of the lead singers. Although the song carried less energy than their previous ones, but they displayed great, raw emotion and it was very unique compared to the first part of their set. The variety and shifting of multi-instrumentalists made for a dynamic and entertaining set from the young band.
Local Iowa City screamo band, thisworldisnotkind, then took the stage playing several songs that were similar to the band that played before but with more of an emphasis on longer songs that built tension as they went on. The four-person band featured a bassist playing prolonged bass notes that rung through your whole body, a guitarist playing spacey chords and riffs, a (dynamic) drummer, and more screamo vocals from the lead singer who also used a trumpet occasionally to add variety to their set. Again, the highlight of their set was the last song they played, which started with a trumpet medley over a slow and deep instrumental from the other musicians, continued to slowly build energy as the vocalist began singing, and finally culminated in an explosive ending that was full of moshing and exploded the energy of the room through the roof. These two openers brought the energy that was needed to prime the audience for Your Arms Are My Cocoon.
Your Arms Are My Cocoon Takes The Stage
After much anticipation, Your Arms Are My Cocoon began their set with their song snowy!, a song featuring a midwest emo style guitar riff and Odom’s trademark screamo vocals. The live version of this song featured an extended ending matched with heavier drums than you can hear in the released version. The crowd jumped, screamed, and moshed as a saxophone solo whaled over top of the climactic ending of the song. It was an incredible opening song that dipped the audience’s toes in the water of the beautiful set to come.
The band continued their set with many songs off their new album, including muffled beneath the sound of the ocean, junebug and swan dive. The middle section of their set is where the band really flaunted their ability to be dynamic on stage. They displayed a playfulness during their performance that perfectly fit the style of music, including Odom running into the crowd with his guitar multiple times while people were moshing, beautifully prolonged saxophone solos and medleys over all of their songs, and extended versions of their songs that had the ability to blow the walls down of the small room we were all packed into. At this point the band had the audience watching in a trance, unable to step out of the steaming hot, compacted room even if they needed some fresh air to not miss what they would do next.
Finally, the band concluded their set with the song death of a rabbit, which resulted in the highlight of the entire night. They turned the 6 minute and 14 second song into a 10+ minute sweeping ballad. The song began with restrained guitar strumming, soft vocals, and a bed of electric piano chords that built up to an explosive climax that could’ve gone on for hours and no one in the audience would have been upset. The screeching of the saxophone, the screaming from Odom, the abrasive drumming, and heavy bass notes all in that intimate setting made for the perfect end to an incredible night.
No amount of listening to their music will top seeing this incredible band in such an intimate space. These four phenomenal performers perfectly utilize their mix live and prerecorded electric instruments and are dynamic enough performers to create a completely unique concert experience, unlike anything I have seen before. If you ever get the opportunity to see these guys in concert, do not hesitate and take the chance.
