Pet Symmetry
Big Symmetry
ASIAN MAN/STORM CHASERS

Everything about Big Symmetry oozes good vibes. Before even getting into the music, a sense of care and consideration is clearly embedded deep within the creation and distribution of Chicago emo/indie rock band Pet Symmetry’s latest full-length. The trio have released the album on their own label and pressed the LP with a Chicago-based pressing plant (including exclusive vinyl variants via their Patreon) with the aim of helping contribute to the local economy. It’s an impressive DIY effort that fuses new and old methods of music distribution while connecting with fans and peers.

But what of the music? Fortunately, these 12 tracks more than match the care and intelligence that’s gone into the circumstances surrounding their release. While its creators have never exactly been a downbeat emo band, their fourth album stands as their most delightfully positive and sincere effort yet. Frontman Evan Weiss (better known as Into It. Over It.) has long had a brilliant way with words, wrapping unique, introspective, and witty rhymes over his band’s signature bounce and emotionally resonant emo revivalism, this time given a hard coat of power-pop paint. Big Symmetry also sees Weiss unleash some of his sweetest and most relatable lyrics. “Big Barker” is a buoyant ode to a “a living, breathing, fuzzy teddy bear” of a dog, while “Big Engagement” is almost startlingly direct and sincere: “Even though my timing’s never right / I’ve weighed every single risk and I’m gonna risk it all,” he muses before popping the matrimonial question hinted at in the song’s title.

While Weiss’ distinct voice gives the album a large chunk of its emotional potency, the band’s music more than backs his giddy and heartfelt mood. “Big Barker” brings out the handclaps and shakers while occasionally dipping into major-key cheese; “Big Water Cooler” is a pure pop-punk/emo sugar rush; “Big Mileage” utilizes gang vocals that recall cheerleader chants. A couple of the slower tracks provide a different variation on this overall sense of euphoria: “Big Diamonds” is a mid-tempo track led by bass and percussion which feels like dancing with your partner at home after a few glasses of wine, while “Big Guilt Trip” is a restrained acoustic-rock number about unconditional love.

There’s something almost zen about Weiss’ outlook on his band’s vibrant, joyous follow-up to 2021’s Future Suits. He’s aware of the grim realities, but never lets them get him down, focusing instead on loved ones, family, and pets. It’s a properly life-affirming, adult-emo perspective, encapsulated by these lines on closer “Big Doink”: “It’s hard to be happy while the world is getting heavy / We’re in the parking lot smoking out the Chevy / Where would we be without each other?”

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