Tuesday 25 February 2014

The Wonder Years


The Wonder Years are a six-piece pop punk band from Lansdale, PA, formed in 2005. In my opinion, they're the most essential pop punk band from the 2000s. Not only are they catchy and fun as fuck on recordings and in concert, but their lyrics are so personal and powerful that it's tear-jerking on occasion. Even if you don't really care for pop punk, you've got to give these guys a try, they're too good to pass up.

DISCOGRAPHY NOTES:
  • I am uploading the remastered version of Get Stoked On It! 
  • Rather than uploading the plethora of EPs and splits these guys have done, I'm just going to upload their compilation album Sleeping On Trash, which has all of their recordings from 2005 to 2010 (except for GSOI!)

1. Keystone State Dude-Core
2. Bout To Get Fruit Punched, Homie
3. Buzz Aldrin: The Poster Boy For Second Place
4. Let's Moshercise!!!
5. What If We [Swam] Into Nothing
6. Racing Trains
7. Zombies Are The New Black
8. We Were Giants
9. My Geraldine Lies Over The Delaware
10. Dude, What Is A Land Pirate
11. I Fell In Love With A Ninja Master
12. When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

1. My Last Semester
2. Logan Circle
3. Everything I Own Fits In This Backpack
4. Dynamite Shovel
5. New Years With Carl Weathers
6. It's Never Sunny In South Philadelphia
7. Hostels & Brothels
8. Melrose Diner
9. This Party Sucks
10. Hey Thanks
11. Washington Square Park
12. All My Friends Are In Bar Bands

1. Came Out Swinging
2. Woke Up Older
3. Local Man Ruins Everything
4. Suburbia
5. My Life As A Pigeon
6. Summers In PA
7. I Won't Say The Lord's Prayer
8. Coffee Eyes
9. I've Given You All
10. Don't Let Me Cave In
11. You Made Me Want To Be A Saint
12. Hoodie Weather
13. And Now I'm Nothing

Bonus Tracks (2012)
1. My Life As Rob Gordon
2. Me Vs The Highway
3. Living Room Song
4. Don't Let Me Cave In (Nervous Energies Session)
5. Woke Up Older (Acoustic)
6. Local Man Ruins Everything (Acoustic)
7. Came Out Swinging (Demo)
8. Don't Let Me Cave In (Demo)
9. Coffee Eyes (Live Demo)
10. Woke Up Older (Live Demo)
11. It's Murder-Suicide (Nu-Metal Jam)


1. The Wonder Years - Me Vs. The Highway
2. Stay Ahead Of The Weather - No Money, Mo Problems

1. The Wonder Years - Anchor
2. Polar Bear Club - Skipping Stone
3. Transit - Resent And Resistance
4. The Story So Far - Wrightsville Beach
5. A Loss For Words - Quicksand
6. Into It. Over It. - Don’t Let Me Cave In

1. Mike Kennedy Is A Bad Friend
2. Solo & Chewy: Holdin' It Down
3. Won't Be Pathetic Forever
4. You're Not Salinger. Get Over It.
5. An Elegy For Baby Blue
6. Don't Open The Fridge!
7. Christmas At 22
8. Leavenhouse. 11:30.
9. My Geraldine Lies Over The Delaware
10. I Ain't Saying He A Gold Digga (Sike!)
11. Let's Moshercise!!!
12. Through Two Hearts
13. Cheap Shots, Youth Anthems (Originally By Kid Dynamite)
14. Zip Lock (Originally By Lit)
15. Hey Julie (Originally By Fountains Of Wayne)
16. Buzz Aldrin: The Poster Boy For Second Place
17. Cowboy Killers
18. I Fell In Love With A Ninja Master


1. I Was Scared And I'm Sorry
2. Dynamite Shovel (Campfire Version)
3. Logan Circle: A New Hope
4. We Won't Bury You

1. There, There
2. Passing Through A Screen Door
3. We Could Die Like This
4. Dismantling Summer
5. The Bastards, The Vultures, The Wolves
6. The Devil In My Bloodstream
7. Teenage Parents
8. Chaser
9. An American Religion (FSF)
10. A Raindance In Traffic
11. Madelyn
12. Cul-De-Sac
13. I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral


No Closer To Heaven (2015)
1. Brothers &
2. Cardinals
3. A Song For Patsy Cline
4. I Don't Like Who I Was Then
5. Cigarettes & Saints
6. The Bluest Things On Earth
7. A Song For Ernest Hemingway
8. Thanks for the Ride
9. Stained Glass Ceilings (feat. Jason Aalon Butler)
10. I Wanted So Badly To Be Brave
11. You in January
12. Palm Reader
13. No Closer To Heaven


1. A Song For Ernest Hemingway
2. There There
3. Coffee Eyes
4. Cardinal
5. Don't Let Me Cave In
6. Dismantling Summer
7. You In January

1. Raining In Kyoto
2. Pyramids of Salt
3. It Must Get Lonely
4. Sister Cities
5. Flowers Where Your Face Should Be
6. Heaven's Gate (Sad & Sober)
7. We Look Like Lightning
8. The Ghosts Of Right Now
9. When The Blue Finally Came
10. The Orange Grove
11. The Ocean Grew Hands To Hold Me
12. The Ghosts Of Right Now (Acoustic) [Bonus Track]

1. Washington Square Park
2. We Look Like Lightning
3. I Wanted So Badly To Be Brave
4. Passing Through A Screen Door
5. It Must Get Lonely
6. Cul-de-sac
7. Hoodie Weather

1. Doors I Painted Shut
2. Wyatt's Song (Your Name)
3. Oldest Daughter
4. Cardinals II
5. The Paris Of Nowhere
6. Summer Clothes
7. Lost It In The Lights
8. Songs About Death
9. Low Tide
10. Laura & The Beehive
11. Old Friends Like Lost Teeth
12. You're The Reason I Don't Want The World To End

Sunday 16 February 2014

Soul Search

Five-piece NYHC-inspired band from Southern California. Enough said. Enjoy.

1. Intro
2. Depth
3. Wretch
4. Reasonable Doubts
5. Soul Less

1. Stuck
2. Bury The Blame
3. Me & Mine
4. Nobody's Nothing

1. Suburban Scum - Beaten From Birth
2. Backtrack - Boiled In My Blood
3. Turnstile - Figure It Out
4. Soul Search - Burning
5. King 9 - No Dreams

11. In The End

1. Never See
2. The Scapegoat
3. Slow Burn
4. Nothing But A Nightmare
5. Succumb

Friday 14 February 2014

iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook

"Random thoughts for Valentine's Day, 2004. Today is a holiday invented by greeting card companies to make people feel like crap." For Alana, the queen of skramz.


So, it's everyone's favourite day of the year again. Since I did The Saddest Landscape last year, I had to come up with a band even more emotionally heartbroken and melodramatic. The answer: iwrotehaikusaboutcannibalisminyouryearbook, the definition of skramz and sad jams. They were a four-piece band from California. Their members were also involved in Punch, Beau Navire, and ...Who Calls So Loud, which should be an indication of how amazing this band is. They are easily one of the most noteworthy screamo bands of the 2000's, and created some pivotal music in their time. Plus their lyrics are just perfect, especially for people still waiting to meet someone in Montauk.

They put out a discography LP in 2010, with the first 12 tracks taken from their only LP, tracks 13-17 from a demo LP, tracks 18-25 from their first demo, and the 26th track as a bonus one. They never titled their songs, which is why they all have numbers for titles. Enjoy.

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5
6. 6
7. 7
8. 8
9. 9
10. 10
11. 11
12. 12
13. 13
14. 14
15. 15
16. 16
17. 17
18. 18
19. 19
20. 20
21. 21
22. 22
23. 23
24. 24
25. 25
26. 26: Chop, Chop, Goodbye

Wednesday 12 February 2014

State Faults


State Faults (formerly known as Brother Bear) are a four-piece post-hardcore/screamo/post-rock band from Santa Rosa, California that formed in 2010. Along with numerous contemporaries, such as Pianos Become The Teeth, Xerxes, Caravels,  Native, We Were Skeletons, etc., they are a part of a new wave of music that blends the aforementioned genres together. Their sound is modern, but their raw passion is equal to the many bands that came before them. They are currently signed to No Sleep, though they worked with Tiny Engines before. If you like the bands previously mentioned, definitely make a note to check out State Faults, since you will surely not be disappointed. Enjoy.

1. Dreamcatcher
2. Last Breath
3. Tigerlily
4. Nothing Stays
5. Quiet Steps

1. Sleepwalker
2. Cities
3. Arrowhead
4. Shiver
5. Faultlines
6. Wayfarer
7. Teeth And Bones
8. Sleeptalker
9. Hallways
10. Vespers
11. Skeletons

1. Vespers (acoustic)

1. Ugly

1. Meteor
2. Wildfires
3. Ultima
4. Stalagmites
5. Diamond Dust
6. Disintegration
7. Spectral
8. Incantations
9. Luminaria
10. Amalgamation
11. Old Wounds

6. Mookie's Last Christmas

1. Dreamcatcher, Pt. II
2. Planetary
3. Moon Sign Gemini
4. Sacrament
5. Olive Tree
6. Sleeplessness
7. Clairvoyant
8. Baptism
9. Funeral Teeth
10. Contaminature
11. Cemetery Lights

1. Moon Sign Gemini
2. Funeral Teeth
3. Despera
4. Dead Teeth

Wednesday 5 February 2014

More Than Life


More Than Life are a five-piece melodic hardcore band from South West, United Kingdom that formed in 2007. Since then, they've come to be known as being one of the most emotionally passionate and intense bands in the modern melodic hardcore scene. Their contemporaries could be cited as being Defeater, Landscapes, Dead Swans, Counterparts, and Killing The Dream, among others. They've put out two EP's and a full-length to date, all of which are absolutely terrific albums. Their sophomore release is coming out this April, and the songs that they've already released from it hint that the band is taking an interesting turn, and incorporating some more experimental elements into their brutally cathartic and high-strung sound. It's definitely an album I am thoroughly looking forward to hearing this year. Enjoy.

1. Prelude
2. Live Love Learn
3. One Step Closer To The Edge
4. Forget Your Lies
5. This Is A New Day
6. Make This Count

1. Aperture
2. Faceless Name
3. In Hindsight
4. Never Ender
5. Brave Enough To Fail
6. Fear

1. Scarlet Skyline
2. Curtains Closing
3. The First Night of Autumn
4. Take My Life Away
5. Black Eyed
6. Silent Gray
7. I've Lost Track Of Everything
8. Daisy Hill
9. Obsession
10. Love Let Me Go

1. Asleep
2. Weight Of The World
3. What's Left Of Me
4. You're Not Alone
5. Threshold
6. Seasons Change
7. Do You Remember
8. Sometimes
9. Love Is Not Enough 

Drifter

Drifter are a three-piece screamo/post-hardcore band from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The band's sound is very dark, with even the more melodic post-rock influenced parts coming off as quite ominous. For the most part, the band keeps things on the lower, heavy, end, which is a nice contrast to the impassioned screams of the vocals and their desperate lyrics (which are very well-written and definitely worth taking a look at). These guys are a great band that have put out some amazing music so far, and I am certainly looking forward to what they put out next.

FFO: Touché Amoré, Single Mothers, Daïtro, Orchid, Comadre, The Saddest Landscape, Suis La Lune

1. Nights
2. Sweet Tooth
3. 3293 Greenway Drive
4. Cold Wood Floors
5. Sleeping
6. Nothing

1. Strata
2. Nights
3. Gallows
4. Separate Graves


1. "You Should Have Left Already"
2. Losing Words
3. Scripted
4. Carbon Copy

Their / They're / There

Their / They're / There are a three-piece indie/emo band from Chicago, Illinois that formed in 2011. The band consists of three people who are fairly well-known, to say the least. Evan Weiss, most notably of Into It. Over It., Stay Ahead Of The Weather, and Pet Symmetry plays bass and sings. Mike Kinsella, from Cap'n Jazz, American Football, Owen, Owls, Joan Of Arc, and The One Up Downstairs plays drums. Matthew Frank, from Loose Lips Sink Ships, plays guitar (super underrated guitarist and band). Their sound is definitely an amalgamation of the other projects the members were involved in. Twinly, mathy guitars layer each song under Weiss' poppy indie melodies and Midwest-inspired lyrics. A solid but technically proficient foundation is laid by the interlocking bass and drum work. They also add in some particularly experimental elements within songs that usually come as being unexpected for this typical type of music, but are certainly welcome. The band has put out two EP's so far, both of which you should check out. Despite their recent formation, they're definitely well on their way to becoming a band in their own right, and shadowed by who's in it. Enjoy.

1. Their / They're / Therapy
2. Concession Speech Writer
3. Fit Your Life Into A Grid
4. Apocalypse (Not Right) Now
5. 572 Cuthbert Blvd
6. End And End

1. Curtain Call
2. New Blood
3. Travelers Insurance

1. Their / They're / There - Rack & Pinion
2. Their / They're / There - Minneapolis
3. Pacemaker - Shared Metaphor
4. Pacemaker - Long Island

1. A Symphony Of Sparrows
2. All In All We All
3. A Patient (Cured) Is A Customer (Lost)
4. Their / They're / Three
5. Living Will Or Living Well
6. Enemies Of Every Feather
7. The Ultimate Ideas
8. We're Moving Pictures
9. A Kingdom Of (Y)our Own
10. The Meaning & The Meadow