They weren’t supposed to be here. Free Throw started as a way to get into shows for free and somehow turned into six albums, years on the road, and something that ended up meaning much more than they ever planned. Even now, they still talk about it like that, like it could’ve easily gone another way.
Moments Before the Wind doesn’t simply continue where Lessons That We Swear to Keep left off. Instead, it reflects the band’s personal growth and evolving identity by dropping the listener into the middle of a relationship falling apart. Vocalist Cory Castro intentionally avoids comfort, mirroring the band’s willingness to leave its comfort zone as it matures. “Missing No.” jumps into this unsettled space immediately, signaling the record’s refusal to be predictable, just as Free Throw’s story has always defied expectations.
The title comes from a line in House of Leaves, and it actually fits the record without needing much explanation. It’s that feeling of being in something that keeps happening, where you already know how it goes, but you’re still in it anyway.
What keeps me in it is how specific the writing is about what actually happened. Castro had a partner, but they split up for a while. During that time, he saw other people while still knowing where he wanted to be. And now he has to sit with that. That’s the record. You hear it all over, but “A Hero’s Grave” is where it’s the clearest to me. He’s not hiding behind anything in that song. Castro is saying outright that he’s hurt people who cared about him. And now he is trying to fix something that can’t be easily fixed.
That same honesty is what makes “This Dollar General Store Ain’t Gonna Rob Itself” hit the way it does. The title is silly. It came from one of those mornings in the studio, joking around about Hoboken Batman, and Justin Castro just said it out loud, and they kept it. But the song is the opposite of that. It’s stripped back, mostly acoustic, nothing to distract from what’s being said, with the band pulling back around him instead of filling the space. Castro’s voice sits right at the front. The line about men not crying, sung while he’s clearly right on the edge of it, says everything about how he’s handling this. He’s trying to hold it together in a way that isn’t really working.
There’s also a lot of the album that sits in the in-between parts of all of this, not the fights, not the big moments, but everything around it. “The Need For A Post-Credits Scene” is the best example of that. It’s that point where it’s already over, but neither of them has said it out loud yet. You’re still in the same space, still doing the same things, but it doesn’t feel the same anymore. Drummer Zach Hall holds everything in place, and the song doesn’t rush past that; it just stays there.
It’s funny, you can hear how the album was made in the way that it’s structured. On this album, the band didn’t come in with finished songs or demos. They built everything from the ground up. And Brett Romnes helped them by gently nudging them out of the comfort zone that a lot of bands can find themselves in. Perhaps that’s what makes this album magical. The songs don’t feel “safe,” whatever that means; they are raw, and yes, they are mature. But so is every member of the band. I would say you listen for the relatable lyricism, but you stay for the melodies. But honestly, you stay for the storytelling.
Maybe it’s just me, but when I heard this record, before anything, I somehow needed it to end on a hopeful note. And that’s where “The Waters Of Life” comes in, and it’s coming from somewhere else. It’s written right after Castro finds out he is going to be a father. And the song he creates to mark this new phase of his life ends the album on an even more emotional note than everything that came before. This is an album by a band that has a newfound confidence and is entering new phases of their lives, while inviting us to hear how they got there. And that’s so rare, and it is a heartbreaking listen. But in the end, Castro gets everything he wanted by acknowledging his part in the struggles and by clearly putting in the work to mend and work through their problems. All is love.
