Mexico has the general population rioting against emo kids. Now, Australia has emo kids going against "scene kids". (I wish I made this crap up, but I don't, I just report on it).
Ok, so let's take a look at this from a logical stand point. In all reality all of this is just a bunch of teenagers hating on each other. Really, it happens all over the world, everyday. The only difference is now they all feel they're fashionable and original and have a catchy (or melodramatic) soundtrack.
There are even wiki pages on how to be scene and emo, so now you can be clear on what exactly it takes to be considered one or the other. Sidenote: I feel like this is a 21st-Century update of West Side Story, minus the whole interracial love aspect.
I was talking to a friend of mine last night about music and he mentioned the band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, which happens to be one of my top 10 favorite bands. Anyway, in talking about that I starting thinking about ska music in general. It's hard to find ska bands anymore, just because so many people have moved away from the genre, but there are still a couple bands plugging away with all eleven-hundred members. (Just kidding, but ska bands, because of the horn sections, tend to have at least 6 members.)
So for your edification here are a few of my personal favorite ska bands.
Big D and the Kids Table: Warped Tour veterans, who after 12 plus years of being a band, are still sticking to the DIY ethic they've had since the beginning. Last winter the went out on their first large-scale headlining tour.
The Toasters: Often credited as "America's longest active ska band", these guys have been pluggin away since 1981. I only recently got into this band, but am glad that I did.
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones: Easily the most recognizable name from the ska genre. They kind of led the ska explosion in the late 90s. I'm sure you all have heard their song The Impression That I Get. They recently reunited after a four year hiatus and released a compilation album this past December.
A couple days ago, I ran into a story about "emo" kids being attacked in Mexico. The story has developed over the past few days and all the videos I've seen are in Spanish, but from what I've read and seen, these are full blown attacks on "emo" kids. It's crazy that these kids are being physically harmed because of the way they look and the music they listen to. I know it's happened to other sub-cultures, especially those in the punk scene, but still seeing this in the 21st century boggles my mind. Absolutepunk.net had a thread about the story and I think it's worth checking out what other people had to say about these attacks.
Easily my favorite band as of late, Bayside, have released a new video off their latest effort, The Walking Wounded. The video is for Carry On and can be seen below.
In other Bayside news, The Walking Wounded will be re-released July 22. The re-release will include live acoustic tracks as well as a DVD documenting the Spring 2008 tour, the music videos from The Walking Wounded as well as the live acoustic performance.
Panic at the Disco released their sophomore record Pretty. Odd. today and it's actually quite a catchy little pop record. I'm sure if you've seen any reviews you know that the boys of Panic are heavily influenced by the 60's and 70's this time around. We had the cd playing in the car and my mom said, "This is very Beatles-esque." That pretty much sums it up.
The only track which stands out in my mind is Northern Downpour. It's a rather simple song, but it's sooo poppy it gets stuck in my head. The entire album is a far cry from the record which made them a household name, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out. Personally, I liked Fever more. It makes me think of dancing in the car in the summer time. Pretty. Odd. is a mellow, background soundtrack.
key tracks: Nine in the Afternoon, Northern Downpour, When the Day Met the Night
first single off Pretty. Odd. Nine in the Afternoon
I was looking through this little blog and noticed, for the most part, I've been writing about the new music I listen to and am a fan of, except those two posts which mentioned the Clash. Anyway, this time around, I will share my "gateway" bands with you. These are the bands that led me to punk and the various sub-genres associated with it.
In high school I dated a kid who was way more into music than me. Thanks to him I was introduced to the Descendents. Known for their short, fast, tongue-in-cheek approach, this band introduced nerdy coolness to the masses. Seriously, how much nerdy can you get than a lead singer named Milo who is now a biochemist?
The aforementioned former boyfriend was also a fan of Operation Ivy. In the short span they were a band, Op Ivy had a huge influence that can still be seen in today's music (think Green Day).
In listening to Op Ivy, I got into Rancid, the band Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman formed after the dissolution of Op Ivy. I'm sure most people have at least heard of Rancid because of their association with Good Charlotte a few years back or because of Tim's other band, the Transplants, with Travis Barker (Blink 182 and +44).
Below, are a couple videos I found on the interweb. Enjoy kids!
I'm pretty sure you've all heard someone say, "That kid's soo emo." And you may have even agreed, but do you know what being emo even means? Yeah, I didn't think so. Well thanks to this sweet little site you can find out all you need to know about emo kids, hardcore kids and various other "scencesters." While you're checking out the descriptions of the scenesters, look to the right and maybe listen to some of the bands listed or visit one of the web sites. Who knows, you may just find a new favorite.
In my continued efforts to expose the world to the music I so very much love, I'm going to introduce, or in some cases reintroduce, you to a few bands I can't live without.
Those fine young men are Yellowcard. You've heard the name thanks to their album, Ocean Avenue. It was like the soundtrack of a couple summers ago. The point is they released a new album called Paper Walls and that is easily the best album I've heard in a long time. Standout tracks include Shadows and Regret, Afraid and The Takedown.
Next up we have Bright Eyes. He dated Winona Ryder and so his name is eh, kinda familiar. Whatever, he's a favorite on the indie circuit and writes crazy good songs. The fact that he's cute makes 15-year-old girls happy, but the rest of us like his songs. Download the albums, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, immediately.
Last up, is Say Anything. The brainchild of Max Bemis, this band has had it's share of turmoil in its history. Max is honest about his battles with bipolar disorder and his Jewish heritage in his songs and interviews. He's also amazingly talented at writing not only catchy hooks, but lyrics that stick in your head for days. Say Anything's latest double disc opus, In Defense of the Genre, is undoubtedly one of the best cds in the last six months.
The Internet. In my humble opinion, this is easily the greatest invention ever. Never mind the fact that I can get everything I need in less than 3 seconds, I love the fact that I am now able to find out about bands I otherwise would never have heard about. True, there are those few bands I have found because of concerts my favorite bands have played (I'm looking at you All Time Low, The Years Gone By and The Morning Light). The Internet also boasts an impressive number of sites which allow users to find out about music in milliseconds. Here are just a couple I've used and am quite addicted to.
Pandora Radio: Pandora is part of the Music Genome Project, "the most sophisticated taxonomy of musical information ever collected," according to its web site. Basically, users create "stations" based on bands and songs they enter into the search box and Pandora customizes the stations base on the user's musical preferences and the qualities shared by the music the user likes and music the user may like.
Last.fm: Another radio service, Last.fm calls itself "the social music revolution". While similar to Pandora in that Last.fm allows users to listen to artist on their site and find similar artists, as well as make stations, it differs in that you can also download Last.fm to your computer and import the music on your computer to it and make stations and recommendations from the music you already have.
Purevolume: Back in the day (meaning when I was a freshman in high school), my friends and I swore by mp3.com, to find new music and listen to it. Purevolume is kind of like mp3.com's little brother, but cooler. The site hosts tons of different artists and genres and has charts which rate which bands/artists are most popular for a given time period. It allows you to search for particular bands/artists or just browse the charts for genres from pop to alternative to Christian.
There are tons of sites you can access to find new music, but these are just the three I've been using lately and love. Plus, there's always MySpace for new music.
By and large punk always has and always will be associated with those who lean to the left of the political spectrum. Is it really any surprise then, that today's "punk" rockers are involved with getting the youth to vote in the upcoming presidential election?
In January, Pete Wentz, co-hosted a fundraiser for Barack Obama. Wentz's band mates, Patrick Stump and Joe Trohman have also thrown their support to Obama. Friends of FOB, including members of Rise Against, attended the party, to show their support.
Trohman, Tim (Rise Against), Wentz at Obama Fundraiser in January
Emo/Indie darling Conor Oberst, better known as Bright Eyes, has also shown support for Obama, by speaking and playing at rally before the Nebraska primary. Ok Go, have also shown support for Obama by playing a show the night before Super Tuesday in New York. Indie-alt-country darlings, Wilco, have also publicly supported Obama.
While not exactly "punk rock" Will. I. Am. of the Black Eyed Peas made a video supporting Obama which features Ryan Key, the lead singer and guitarist of Yellowcard, technically a pop-punk band.
Cynics are prone to say all this celebrity endorsement won't help, I disagree. The "punk" scene is about youth, Obama's reaching out to the youth of this country and who better to reach out to than the discontent portion of this society? At its heart, punk is about rebellion and frustration and I think in the political arena that exists in this country, Obama is about as punk rock as you get.
A couple posts ago, I wrote about the AP Tour which features The Rocket Summer, All Time Low and three other up-and-coming bands. These fine bands are only a handful featured on Alt Press's annual "100 Bands You Need to Know in [insert year here]". I feel obligated to share a few other bands that made this year's list. So read on, download lots and find a new favorite band.
First up we have The Audition from the Windy City. I saw them a couple years ago with Mae at Mr. Small's and fell in love. They're live show is amazing and these boys are gonna blow up thanks to their latest release, Champion. You heard it hear first.
Next up, we have The Maine. These talented youngsters (all members are 18 or 19!), take their fashion and musical cues from Cute Is What We Aim For and All Time Low. But don't think they're just carbon copies of Cute and ATL, nope, these boys are indeed the real deal; their debut effort The Way We Talk, is proof.
Last on the list are two singer-songwriters, who sound absolutely nothing like anything else in this post. First up, is a feisty little Brit named Kate Nash. Her lyrics are part Lily Allen, part Alanis Morissette, part Regina Spektor, but the girl is all fun.
Finally, to end this ridiculously long post, is Sea Wolf, aka Alex Brown Church. AP compares him to Elliot Smith and I'm inclined to agree. Sea Wolf's vocal style is extremely similar to Smith's and his bare bones approach to accompanying music is in line with Smith as well as Bright Eyes.
Fueled by Ramen is a busy little label this year. Yesterday they posted the trailer showing off their upcoming releases. Fall Out Boy, who are technically no longer a FBR band, has the "honor" of being the soundtrack to the trailer. In a nutshell, eight of the fourteen (that 14 includes FOB) FBR bands have something hitting stores this year.
I'm pretty stoked for the new Cute Is What We Aim For, Panic at the Disco and The Academy Is... discs. It'll be good to hear new music from Cute and Panic, as it has been too long since they've released their last efforts.
In related FBR news, Fall Out Boy will be releasing a live CD/DVD soon, entitled **** Live. The discs were recorded during last year's Honda Civic Tour stop in Phoenix, AZ.
FBR alum, Punchline, will be releasing a new CD sometime this summer. According to Steve, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the band, the disc is called Just Say Yes.
What would happen if Atreyu and Drop Dead, Gorgeous had a musical baby? The offspring would be Our Last Night, a metal/screamo/hardcore band from New Hampshire. The band was "inspired by hardcore and metal" and "deliver an onslaught of taut thrashing riffs and intense hardcore breakdowns that meld perfectly with lush melodic landscapes and soaring, irresistibly catchy choruses," according to their bio from Epitaph.
The band was formed by childhood friends who were frustrated with playing cover songs and just jamming. Oh and the best part...the lead vocalist is only 15! Ridiculous, I know.
Their debut on Epitaph, The Ghosts Among Us, was released this past Tuesday. The album, along with their previous two releases are available for download on iTunes.
Tear Her:I Will Be Revenged from their second release, Building Cities From Scratch
It was announced yesterday that The Starting Line will be taking a break, according to a post on their FriendsOrEnemies journal. In part the post reassured fans this is not a break-up, the band just needs to take time off after 8 years of non-stop touring and recording. The post went on to list the bands plans for the time just prior to the break as well as their plans during the break.
I heard a few weeks back that The Starting Line was planning a major announcement and I kind of guessed this is what it would be. Actually, I thought they were going to break up, but this is slightly better news. I'm a huge fan of the band; their latest release Direction is by far their best work. They were able to write songs as 15-year-olds that connected with their peers and continued to write songs in their 20s that still connect with those same 15-year-olds who bought the first album.
