Short Fictions

On every Short Fictions album, there is some kind of apocalypse happening. With Fates Worse Than Death, the threat of climate change loomed in the background of each song. Last year’s Every Moment of Every Day featured romantic infatuation amplified to the dramatic scale of a trainwreck. The band’s new third album and second for Lauren Records, Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me, sits at the center of several crises. From the sudden deaths of close friends, to the effects of aging on touring and making music, and the aftermaths of those aforementioned infatuations, these ideas converge to create a return to form for the Pittsburgh emo band. “I wrote this one in kind of a time of panic,” says guitarist and vocalist Sam Treber. “Whereas the last one was a fun one, this one's a little bit more chaotic and spastic again.”

In January 2023, Treber drove to Two Worlds Recording Studio in Queens, New York with a handful of newly polished songs. Produced by Billy Mannito (Oso Oso, All Get Out), Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me is the result, a record with smatterings of screamo, power pop, and country to be found. Many of the songs have been percolating for years now –– see “Reno, Nevada, January 2020,” which was written about a thrilling and exhausting tour with Origami Angel –– but the loose ends were wrapped up after 2022’s Every Moment of Every Day came out. Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me is the first Short Fictions record to feature Treber playing every instrument –– apart from drums, which are done by SF regular Ryan Veith. It’s a fitting album to embrace Short Fictions’ one-man-band side, as it often feels like a journey through different Pittsburgh neighborhoods from Treber’s perspective. Each song here is filled with tough memories and the slightest hint of optimism.

“Notably, this is the first album without the word Pittsburgh in a song,” said Treber. “But then I titled the interlude ‘Pittsburgh’ out of obligation.” That sense of location resonates throughout the album, where Treber spends a fair amount of time laying on the floor in his apartment, walking past the Schenley Park pool, going down by the river in the South Side, and passing a familiar funeral home everyday.

Where Every Moment of Every Day felt like a tight mixtape of pop songs, this record’s tracklist has a larger scale. It’s filled with momentary detours like the instrumental “I Cannot Possibly Perceive the Least Kinship Now Between the Dead Girl and Myself Which Makes Most of My Days Inevitably Dreary,” the bedroom pop snippet “I’m Going to Kill Myself With a Gun,” and the Twin Peaks-quoting “Pittsburgh.” Each of these moments support Treber’s strong sense of place and time on Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me, especially when placed between power pop joys like lead single “Wasting,” “To Loved Ones Lost in Persuit of Foolish Passions,” or the screamo title-track.

“Am I too old to sing in Short Fictions anymore?,” asks Treber plainly on “Reno, Nevada, January 2020.” The core of Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me are Treber’s questions about aging, touring, and how all of it is affecting the music. “I’ll be 28 next month,” said Treber. “I was like ‘Do I still want to play shows if I'm 30?” But with “Reno” and “To Loved Ones Lost in Pursuit of Foolish Passions,” Treber deftly explains why touring would make someone want to quit music while still writing some of the best songs of his career. After hearing Oblivion Will Own Me and Death Alone Will Love Me, the immediate instinct is to hope there’s more music from Short Fictions for years to come.

[Ethan Beck]