Desert Island Emo

An interlude as I continue work on the midyear albums list (the toughest part of those is that you just keep finding more and more great stuff to add). A fun little thought exercise brought about by this twitter post. As the usual "desert island" challenges go, you get only 5 albums to take with you. Which do you pick?

The Five:

The Hotelier- Home, Like Noplace is There

TWIABP- Whenever, If Ever

American Football- American Football (LP2)

Jimmy Eat World- Bleed American

Sorority Noise- Joy, Departed

Thoughts:

Man, emo bands sure do love their commas. The first two are the emo revival starter pack, both of them essential listening for understanding the scene and just making it through life generally. The recent SPIN revival ranking list (helmed by Ian Cohen, one of the few people I’d trust to do it) indicated how much the scene right now revolves around these two bands: they occupy spots 1, 2, 4, and 7 on the list. It’s fair to wonder if the scene would have become the force it is had these two bands not come around. Fortunately we’ll never need to know. The two bands sit at opposite ends of the musical spectrum: The Hotelier (at least on this album) drawing from the punk and screamo roots, and The World Is... stretching out in the Midwest style with keyboards and horns and varied arrangements, but reach the same end result: classic albums.

Choosing LP2 from American Football is probably the big unorthodox move here. It goes without saying that the original American Football is a classic to end all classics and a bedrock of the sound. Without counting up the responses, it looked like the most frequent selection on Twitter. But give me the second one, and let Mike Kinsella softly croon me into oblivion. I didn’t even give it top-two billing on last year’s year end post, but it’s grown on me every day since. If "divorce-core" is really becoming a thing, count me in.

Bleed American is I think the most fun album you can choose for this list, and is a hall of fame driving-with-the-windows-down album. “The Middle” is great now that it’s just an occasional radio play, and “A Praise Chorus” is a classic in the shoutout-other-music genre (as is, to a lesser extent, “The Authority Song”). Sure, this is the moment when emo really broke commercial, but you can't argue with the result, even if you don't like where things headed afterwards.

What to say about Joy, Departed…this album means more to me than almost any other. I never expected the song that told the story of my life to be titled "Art School Wannabe," but sometimes that's just how things go. Cam Boucher is an unbelievable lyricist, and the best I've ever heard at articulating those unspoken feelings that you don't ever know what to do with. Throw in some solid musicianship, even including a few guitar solos, and you've got an indispensable album.

On the whole, I think the list definitely shows my age (as in, young). I think it also shows that the overused trope that emo is just about being sad or crying over girls is no longer true (if it ever really was, which I suspect is not the case). There's a lot of heavy themes here, but I think the optimism on Whenever, If Ever shines through, and Bleed American certainly helps balance things out as well. 

I had to leave out a ton of really great music (continued below if you're interested) but I'm pretty satisfied with my choices. If any of these are new to you, I can't recommend them strongly enough. Enjoy!

2017 Mid-Year Report: Top 10 Songs (So Far)

Long time, no update but here we are. Lots and lots of good stuff already this year, from old favorites and some amazing debuts as well. There's sure to be more deserving coming later too (new Alvvays!) but let's see where we stand at the halfway point. 

Honorable Mentions:

Carly Rae Jepsen: “Cut to the Feeling”

              If there was any justice in pop music, this would be the “song of the summer” dominating radio stations. But there isn’t, so y’know, enjoy “Malibu” or whatever.

Horrid: “Cursed Dunes”

              Monster of a death metal song from a virtually unknown Italian band. It seems like their most recent album is getting increased coverage so we may be seeing a mid-career breakout. We'll check back in when I've gotten a chance to sit with the whole album.

Mitch Murder- “Outpost Alpha”

This came out digitally last year, but just got a physical release so we’ll count it. Mitch Murder makes synthwave that sends you directly to the 80’s, do not pass Go. I’ve yet to throw on “Outpost Alpha” and not run it right back at least once.  So groovy.

10. White Ward: “Black Silent Piers” (from Futility Report)

              Saxophone infused black metal from the Ukraine. That alone should be enough to get you to check this out, but I’m obligated to assure you that the saxophone is more than just a gimmick and blends seamlessly into the music. Black metal continues to evolve in new and interesting ways, and White Ward have immediately established their name as one to watch.

9. MUNA: “So Special” (from About U)

              MUNA have laid claim to synthpop crown for the year, in the process thoroughly outclassing the well-regarded new Paramore. I anticipate seeing “Everything” showing up in the year end lyrics section, but “So Special” starts the album off with such a bang that it gets the nod. This is a powerful, moving record that I'll hold off writing more about right now because it is pretty much guaranteed to deserve a long section come December.

8. White Reaper: “Judy French” (from The World’s Best American Band)

              Impossibly fun, swaggering rock from the Kentucky based rock band. I can’t say they definitively lived up to their album title, but they sure as hell tried, and had fun doing it. On my first listen I called them the bastard son of Great White and Kill Cheerleader, and they are every bit as scuzzy and wonderful as that combo sounds. 

7. Tigers Jaw: “Same Stone” (from Spin)

              Tigers Jaw has moved into more a twee sound with their third album, resulting in catchier and more memorable hooks. Nowhere is this more evident than on “Same Stone,” a late album standout. This song also highlights Brianna Collins’ greater role in handling vocals. If this is the new sound of Tigers Jaw, we may end up not even missing Pity Sex.

6. Soen: “Opal” (from Lykaia)

              The references to Tool are inescapable for Soen, and the similarities are really quite evident. What keeps Soen so interesting is that although the music is quite similar, it always feels like Soen completely own their sound- they’re comparable, but Soen’s was independently derived, not copied. “Opal” (and Lykaia as a whole) continues right where Tellurian left off, and should be cementing their name as one of the best in melodic metal.

5.  Power Trip: “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” (from Nightmare Logic)

              Unbelievably tight thrash jam. This is the antidote to Vektor’s 7 minute musings that had everyone fawning last year. The riffs evoke the glory days of Metallica, but there’s an edge here drawn from crossover that never showed up in the Bay Area heyday. At a time when thrash is lagging far behind death and black in overall scene creativity and output, Power Trip have made a convincing argument that the race isn’t completely run.

4. no hope/ no harm: “Pony Boy”

              It’s hard for me not to gush about this band, and they’re now four for four on singles.* Still not completely sure how to describe them: “Grown-up emo” sounds like it could be condescending, but it accurately captures the mood. I threw an American Music Club comp on them last year and stand by it, though on the newest single “Hook & Ladder” the Sheila Divine influence comes through even stronger. Bottom line: get in on the ground floor here.

*Since I wrote this, they've released a fifth, "Our Vile Body" and it's also excellent. I cannot reiterate enough that you need to be listening to this band.

3. The Menzingers: “Your Wild Years” (from After the Party)

              The year’s biggest surprise hit for me, The Menzingers cleaned up their sound just a touch, and then went ahead and wrote at least half a dozen hooks catchier than anything from On the Impossible Past. They take on being an aging punk with wit and sincerity, with equal parts nostalgia for lost youth and appreciation for the way things have ended up. It's good, solid rock n' roll that will have you turning for it more often than you expect.

 2. Jens Lekman: “To Know Your Mission” (from Life Will See You Now)

              The obvious choice from the album is “What’s Perfume That You Wear?”, which is one of the best singles Lekman’s ever released, and hopefully will be on the playlist at every cool backyard cookout you’re at this summer. I’ve got “To Know Your Mission” here though because it’s the one that I find myself returning to most often. It feels like the song that Lekman has been waiting years to write. It also doesn’t hurt that his voice sounds better than ever both here and on the rest of the album.

 1. Sorority Noise: “No Halo” (from You’re Not As __ As You Think)

              The nature of Sorority Noise’s music and lyrics makes any attempt to write about and explain them intensely personal.  “No Halo” sees SN at their most epic- borrowing all the tricks from post-rock and stuffing them into an intense and cathartic three minutes. Cam Boucher has an unparalleled ability to capture the tmost intimate and fragile feelings with his lyrics, but here the band sounds like they could level a mountain if it stood in their way.