When I was in college and met someone for the first time, the standard question was ‘What’s your major?’ At the Bradley Center, the initial icebreaker was ‘Did you come in a police car or an ambulance?’ Some arrived without clothes; substance abusers often rend their garments and run around naked. They were issued a pair of hospital gowns, one for the front and one for the back, held together by a column of clasps down each side. — N.O. Sanders, Communing with St. Francis

With ‘sober haha jk unless,’ Hospital Bracelet let’s us know that addiction sux. Whatever desires and expectations fostered the condition have long ago left the party. Romanticism and states of bliss are themes confined to the first reel of the movie. We enter the theater in the third act, when the only unresolved plot point is the inevitable overdose.

Closure is a chimera; pursuit leads one deeper into a circular wilderness. I’ll sober up when I find closure and I’ll find closure if I ever sober up. The only closure is the acceptance that there is no closure.

please please please
get me me me
sober sober
and when i’m there
can I have have have
any closure any closure

You are an addict, will always be an addict no matter how long you stay sober. And once the Rubicon of parental disappointment is crossed, you are a fuckup, have always been a fuckup, will always be a fuckup. Past behaviors are re-examined for signs of present problems, and future triumphs are graded on the concave curve of past failures.

and i’m not sure
i’ll ever be able to go back
and I don’t want
to disappoint my mom again
but I already have
already have

‘sober haha jk unless’ opens with stark guitar overlain by a beautifully expressive voice. Tension builds as habits degrade before ending with the quiet questions one asks during too-brief intervals of clarity.

Hospital Bracelet self-describes their music as three-piece emo bummer pop punk from Chicago, IL. The band comprises Eric Christopher (guitar and vocals), Arya Woody (bass), and Manae Hammond (drums). On ‘sober haha jk unless’ they are joined by Noah Roth on backing vocals and synthesizer. We have previously featured three of Noah’s songs: ‘800 Miles,’ ‘Only a Phone Call Away,’ and ‘Abandoned Properties.’

Hospital Bracelet’s music is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, and Apple Music. And be sure to follow Hospital Bracelet on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.