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Throughout 2020, punk bands and fans wondered how anyone could generate and sustain a wave of excitement without the usual dues-paying opening slots, five-band gigs or breakout Fest sets. The brash Floridians in Home Is Where might still do that eventually, but theyâve excelled in the compact spaces that serve as proving grounds in 2021: TikTok, Twitter, and 18-minute albums. On their bracing first official LP
I Became Birds, Home Is Where talk a big gameâabout power structures, trans rights, and especially about fifth-wave emo. Brandon MacDonald mostly expresses themselves in uncanny bursts of imagery, so the few times they are direct are rare enough to quote in full: âcops are flammable, if you try,â âLook at all the dogs/I wanna pet every puppy I see,â âHow long has it been since a president got assassinated?â (mind you, âThe Scientific Classification of Stingraysâ was initially released in October 2020). Th