We keep our spotlight on Austin, Texas this week. The city is home to the mathy-midwest emo rockers Fine! I Guess. Helmed by vocalist and guitarist Hunter D'Amour, the band originally took shape as a solo project, debuting with 2023's I'm Surprised You Haven't Said Anything. Prior to forming Fine, I Guess, D'Amour was a member of the Orlando based punk outfit Pretend Everything, in which he played drums, in addition to playing in another Austin based band Desperate Poets. 

This current iteration of Fine! I Guess is rounded out by drummer Alex Wood, bassist Charlie Sellers, and guitarist Chris Galan. Fine! I Guess' most recent record, The Grass Isn't Always That Green, is also their first full length as a band. Previously sprinkling out four singles across 2024, before debuting their full length's first single “From Me To You With Sincerity” this past March.

Sincerity is exactly what this song brings, echoing out in lyrics such as ‘I heard you laugh from the other room. I love your carefree attitude.’ and ‘I've been feeling less down since you noticed I'm around.’ The dual vocals crying out together in optimistic and hopeful longing; a pleasant change of pace given emo's history of self deprecating, depressive and introspective lyrical content. This upbeat and self aware approach to songwriting is highlighted throughout all eleven tracks on The Grass Isn't Always That Green. 

Over the course of its thirty-minute runtime, The Grass Isn't Always That Green manages to capture a sense of nostalgia like very few records this quarter century have done before it. Songs like “How Much We've Changed, Nothing Feels The Same,” and “Thanks For The Invite,” perfectly capture the awkwardness of life as a young adult navigating the intricacies of interpersonal relationships and one's own emotions. Searching for the right words to say, and the inevitability that the people and world around us, including ourselves, will drastically change whether we want them to or not. 

The albums lyrics cover a wide range of topics their vocalist Hunter tells us, “Relationships, friendships and just the overall state of being, but as a whole, I think that they all come together and represent things like love, loss and acceptance.”

Fine! I Guess have curated a track list that evokes emotions ranging from late night bike rides with crisp cool summer breezes to stumbling through an interaction with your crush at a party, and opening a fresh pack of Pokemon cards for the first time. Ferris Bueller taught a generation of kids not to forget to stop and look around or life would pass them by. When D'Amour sings ‘Can we just bottle this feeling some sort of bliss. I want to relive all the moments that we missed,’ I can't help but think of every moment I've taken for granted in my own life and what I would do to recapture them in a more positive light. The joyful childhood bliss that the next Pokemon pack you open just might be the one with a shiny Charizard.

We sat down with the members of Fine! I Guess to get an exclusive in-depth breakdown of the band's writing and recording process on this record.

WHAT WAS THE WRITING PROCESS FOR THIS RELEASE?

Hunter: For this record, all the songs would start out as ideas brought by me, sometimes fully finished, sometimes not, and we would expand on them as a band.

Alex: Honestly in this band, I freestyle a lot and it ultimately culminates into a part that plays along with the guitars and vocals but still stays grounded with the bass.

Chris: A lot of playing the songs back-to-back for a week straight.

HOW WAS THE RECORDING PROCESS?

Hunter: We recorded at a local studio here in Austin called Hen House, with me and my friend/old bandmate Brett recording the whole thing together. We rented out a couple weekends and multi-tracked each instrument. The first weekend, we just focused on drums and guitar. The second weekend we got bass, second guitar, vocals, cello, violin, trumpet, and gang vocals. It was a super fun experience.

“THIS RECORD FEELS SO MUCH MORE POLISHED AND THOUGHT THROUGH THAN ANYTHING I’VE RELEASED IN THE PAST AND I’M EXTREMELY PROUD OF WHAT THE BOYS IN [FINE, I GUESS] HAVE COME TOGETHER TO MAKE.

NOW THAT THE ALBUM IS OUT, ALL I HOPE IS THAT WHOEVER LISTENS TO THE SONGS CAN FIND A DEEP EMOTIONAL CONNECTION WITH THEM THE WAY THAT I DO FOR A LOT OF THE SONGS”.

- HUNTER, @FINEIGUESSBAND

SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE BAND NOW?

Hunter: We want to tour eventually, but we’re thinking of EP2 for recording next.

Alex: Tour. Keep making albums, make this project a career.

Chris: The only two that I do want to reach is playing FEST in Florida and do an Audiotree session. If I can do any of those, I can die a happy man.

Charlie: I’m excited for the next album and getting more complicated with my bass parts.

ANY CLOSING WORDS FOR OUR READERS?

Alex: Shoutout my momma and my poppa.

Hunter: Massive shoutout to my girlfriend, Kennedy, for supporting the band since its inception and sitting through my screaming and our loud shitty weekly practices (lol).

Mixed and mastered by Hunter himself and released under Tiny Sounds Collective on April 4th. Cop a physical while supplies last and hit their social link below to stay up to date with where the band goes next!

Fine! I guess is Hunter on guitar and vocals, Chris on guitars, Charlie on bass, and Alex on drums.