BRAID - Frame & Canvas 25 Year Anniversary Tour

On sale Friday, 2/24 at 10am!

$27 ADV | $30 DOOR

Doors 7pm | Show 8pm

BRAID

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Frame & Canvas is a landmark. Released in April of 1998, Braid’s third studio album and first
full-length with Polyvinyl wasn’t their first nor last important statement, but its urgency,
precision, and non-stop rush of innovative ideas lined up perfectly with the time it was created
in to effect a profound shift. In the small but growing circles of Midwestern emo of the late ‘90s,and all that would eventually ripple outward and upward from those circles, nothing was quitethe same after this record. We celebrate 25 years of Frame & Canvas with the first properre-release of the album, not just newly remastered, but remixed from the original tapes.

By the time they were ready to track their third album in late 1997, Braid had become an
unstoppable machine. The band hit the ground running upon forming four years earlier,
churning out new material as fast as it could be put to tape and sharpening their performance
chemistry with constant, nearly compulsive touring. On one of their many runs of shows, the
band crossed paths with Jawbox’s J. Robbins, a presence in the Washington D.C. scene known
not just for his bands, but for his stellar work as an engineer and producer. When this group of
self-professed Jawbox superfans meekly asked Robbins if he’d be interested in producing their
next album, his agreement lit an even bigger fire to the creative engines of a band already in
hyperdrive. True to their road-dog work ethic, Braid booked a tour that routed them to D.C. andback, working in the middle for just five blurry days at the legendary Inner Ear Studios, walkingaway with Frame & Canvas.
These twelve songs were not just the culmination of everything the band had been building upuntil that point, but an energized advancement. Guitarist/vocalists Chris Broach and BobNanna, and bassist Todd Bell had recently been joined by new drummer Damon Atkinson, buteven less than a year into this new configuration, Braid was locked in and making some of theirmost inspired work. The heightened frequency the band was operating at is immediatelyapparent with the way “The New Nathan Detroits” charges out of the gates, opening the albumwith a barrage of speedy, dissonant hooks that hit like an orchestrated car crash. Throughout thealbum, the band masterfully balances intensity and control. Songs like “ConsolationPrizefighter” lean into dynamic math rock construction, while the band’s restless melodicismguides “Killing A Camera” and slower moments like the yearning, twin-guitar beauty of “NeverWill Come For Us.” Listening closely to “Collect From Clark Kent” is head-spinning, not just intrying to decode its intricate construction, but hearing it played with an effortlessness thatsounds second nature. There are moments on every song that reflect the excitement andpossibility of youth that the members of Braid were actively living at this point. These were fourfriends living, breathing, and constantly finding their way together with their music. WithFrame & Canvas, they reached a new apex.

In September of 2021, J. Robbins received a message from Inner Ear founder Don Zientara,
letting him know that the studio was closing and scheduled to be demolished soon, and invitinghim to stop by to see if there was anything there he wanted to salvage before the bulldozersstarted showing up. As Robbins was rummaging through the studio, he was surprised to find theoriginal 2” tape reels Frame & Canvas was tracked to so many years earlier. Discovering thesetapes got the ball rolling for ideas about the upcoming 25th anniversary of the record. Budgetconstraints severely limited the band’s time in the studio back in December of 1997, but nowRobbins was able to take his time crafting an entirely new mix from the excavated tapes. Thisnew mix is given the perfect finishing touch with fresh mastering from Dan Coutant at SunRoom Audio. These careful and detailed revisions bring a new clarity to the album withoutsacrificing any of the original spirit or intention.

For those already well-familiarized and imprinted with Frame & Canvas, this updated renderingoffers a new way to hear an evergreen classic, and in doing so, perhaps find some new layers ofmeaning, new angles of remembering the people we were when these songs first became a partof our lives. For those lucky souls hearing the album for the first time, this is a perfect entrypoint to Braid’s world of explosivity and self-searching. The renovated Frame & Canvas is thebrightest articulation of a document that’s been an inextricable force of influence andinspiration since it arrived 25 years ago.