Press Play: Active Bird Community

While many of us like to pretend middle school never happened, Active Bird Community is happy to reminisce on the good old days of bad hair, braces, and questionable-at-best fashion choices. The New York City-born band came together in the adolescence of its members. Tom D’Agustino, Zach Slater, and Andrew Wolfson were performing together before they were old enough to start high school. Their first show? Eighth-grade graduation, which the band claims was a sold-out show.

Fast-forward ten years and Active Bird Community is still growing together. While many young bands go their own way once members start spreading out for college, Tom D’Agustino, Zach Slater, and Andrew Wolfson stuck with each other; they even welcomed a new drummer, Quinn McGovern. Over the last decade, these guys have done a lot of learning and experienced more than their child-selves could imagine.

This is where the heart of their latest album, Amends, is found. The album focuses on growth and learning to forgive–others and yourself. Like the name suggests, it’s almost an open letter to people they’ve hurt. This album is retrospective and honest. Every song is a confession. The band frees themselves with every act of accepted responsibility. This record feels like reading old diary entries. At times, the self-awareness feels overwhelming; imagine those nights spent lying awake, reflecting on something embarrassing that you did four years ago. These moments of reflection are underscored by a lot of catchy and crescendoing guitar bits. At times, the drums are a pounding heartbeat for these tough conversations.