Where the hell did this band come from? It seems like at least once a year there's a debut from some unknown band that takes rock music by storm, and Athletics manages to do that and more with their debut Why Aren't I Home? Athletics mixes Post Rock elements, a la Explosions in the sky, with soaring vocals, and some heavy guitar play to form their own, kick ass, version of modern rock.


You can imagine my excitement when this endlessly listenable album fell into my lap and I found out it was a Deep Elm Records release. Over the course of my reviews here, Deep Elm has yet to disappoint, and they may have just released their most important record to date.


While other bands are happy to toil in the same kind of music over and over, Athletics decides to take elements of post rock, emo, hardcore, and other genres, and mix them all together to create something truly original, something that is all but impossible for bands today. Making heavy use of reverb on the vocals, and off-time guitar, Why Aren't I Home comes in late as a front runner for album of the year.