Beauty School’s Happiness was the sort of debut that you just yearn for. A fresh, fluid emo listen packed to gills with tremendous songs and an outfit fully formed and hewn right out the box, it was an unquestionable highlight of 2022, and put its creators in the sharpest of focus going forward. Albums this complete this early are not a common occurrence, especially from an act whose rise has felt almost conspicuously organic. The backing from Slam Dunk hasn’t hurt—the band proclaim themselves to be ‘Slam Dunk Festival born and bred’ and are a rare non-re-release find among the label’s roster—but that’s hardly the same as label-backed money in return for a day’s graft at making ‘funny’, ‘relatable’ reels and TikToks.
Rather, Beauty School have done everything so right that you’re almost waiting for the slip-up, truth be told. Maybe it’s here, where the dreaded sophomore slump proves their Kryptonite after a debut that’s impossible to live up to. And for the first couple of spins of From Now On, that does appear to be true. It’s not as good as Happiness; it might even a little paunchy in its length, with a couple of instances of wheel-spinning towards the back. This is, of course, an early mindset, before From Now On is allowed to sink in and shows itself to be another terrific album from Beauty School. Not being instantly gratified on an album like this isn’t a strike against it (and proves pretty moot anyway when most of what’s here still hits like a brick to the face from the off).
To give that argument its fix of oxygen, though, on a 14-track album rooted in a warm, no-frills emo sound for its entire duration, not everything is gonna be a mega-hit. Armitage has arguably the fewest ‘special’ qualities to provide its edge, and the bruised acoustics of Astel sounding like it was recorded in the middle of an empty room is the kind of one-off pivot on the album that might read as too obvious. But for a band like Beauty School whose floor is higher than many others’ ceilings, these aren’t ‘flaws’ to pick in the traditional sense. If anything, it’s more comforting to know that, even at their weakest (and that’s used exceedingly liberally, here), Beauty School are still crushing it within their field.
When I’m Feeling Down and Okinawa stand as the twin pinnacles of what From Now On can achieve, not just by sporting the album’s two best choruses, but in how refined and detailed they are with no accessibility lost. Beauty School’s knack for that balance has always been exceedingly strong, and From Now On has no problem keeping that up. Hooks are as highly concentrated as you’d expect, now with an extra smattering of Midwest emo to taste on A Part Of Everything and Old Rotten Teeth, and the burnished textures to keep pop-punk and alt-rock in mind, but not let them overtake anything. The production job is essentially flawless throughout; Beauty School, once again, have no problems with getting the best from their style.
But even that doesn’t feel as though it touches on the prestige that From Now On radiates. What elevates it well past a merely good album is the accumulated touches of strength displayed at pretty much every turn. There’s an understanding of size with how Lately and the title track are so headlong in how they grow and crescendo, not to mention how chock-full of emo faves-in-waiting this is. Even Gloom and Reaper that have been floating around in some form for over a year now are still bestowed with the freshness of this new package. In the case of the latter, though, it might be something to do with a new penchant for hardcore that frontman Joe Cabrera wears with gusto. Screams are sparing but always purposeful; it’s the kind of performance that instinctively builds into its harshness, rather than plugging it in where it’s ‘supposed’ to be. He can already holler and emote with the best of ‘em, too, holding his own against The Wonder Years’ Dan Campbell on Reaper, and blowing away an already-underused Rae Brazill of Artio on Day Of Iva.
Cap all of that off with a fittingly thorough lyric sheet touching on anxiety, depression, loss, grief and the ever-familiar modern sensation of ennui at all times, and you’ve got the second filling emo feast in a row (and in not-too-belated fashion) from Beauty School. Even with the simplicity and earnest ‘genre expectation’ at the heart of what they do, it’s positively overflowing with the best of what that can be. If an emo fan, in good faith, said they were disappointed by From Now On, you’d almost have to question what they like about the genre in the first place. This is all of it, distilled into its best, and crystallised into a form that’s quickly becoming Beauty School’s standard. To emo at large—you’ll have a hard time beating this one in a hurry.
For fans of: The Wonder Years, Hot Mulligan, Arm’s Length
‘From Now On’ by Beauty School is released on 3rd October on Slam Dunk Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
