Have I mentioned this band already? Possibly. Are they stellar? Definitely.
I decided on making this post today because I had a lot of static time today at school and wasn't feeling in the mood for anything specific so I went to an old favourite. They released an album called Legendary in the spring and it is one of the best albums I've heard this year.
To give you a little back story, I discovered this band during my "pop/punk" phase in the summer after middle school. When was this? 2009? Anyways, at the time they were quite new and I lumped them in with All Time Low and The Maine but they've grown to be very unique. I love all 3 of their releases for different reasons, and like any good band they're third album combines the best of the first two. It has the dance/high school feel of Love Like This and then the more philosophical - if you will - aspects of Everything's Fine. The reason I chose to listen to the album today is because it is one of those that you can listen straight through because of the common themes and equal adoration for each song.
Right now I'll just mention that I do have favourites that have a (n even more special) place in my heart:
Heart On The Floor- Did you mean RIP MY HEART OUT BECAUSE VOCALS and Dia Frampton has been featured on one of their songs before, she was a contestant on The Voice and is the Dia of Meg & Dia. It was written with Cady Groves, whom I think should get more attention. The album trend of songs being set in a bar is present in this song.
The album has a heavy How I Met Your Mother influence and that explains a bit of the bar scene (if you've watched the show you'll understand) and this brings me to my next favourite
Legendary- Ah yes, the title track. Multiple references to HIMYM and it's tragic and beautiful and real and I can relate to this in many ways. Including the fact that I've spent too many nights watching How I Met Your Mother, alone. Don't we all wanna be remembered? Don't we all think we'd have done more by now?
Lightning In A Bottle- The band says this is their "tunnel song" (reference to Perks Of Being A Wallflower, this band just gets ideas from everywhere) and I agree. It makes me feel young and wild and free and infinite. Great song to play while driving around town at night with your friends. Great summer song.
I'm going to stop here because I could just list off every song and why I keep listening to it.
Moving swiftly along, let's talk about my attachment to Everything's Fine.
This album came out summer 2011 and ever since I've been obsessed with the symbol they chose. It's a sad face. Ironic. For me, it represents the masks we wear, we say everything is fine but we're frowning. We frown but our life really isn't that bad. We may feel sad now but we'll get over it, we'll begin again. I can't get it out of my head and I'm actually getting the symbol tattooed on me very soon (turning 18 has it's perks!) so I can see it every day.
They're a great band to see live, if I may add. I hadn't had the chance to see them until this past April but damn, it was a lot of fun. They just put me in such a great state of mind, I danced, I fist pumped, I hugged my friends. I saw them again at Warped Tour and this was after the release of Legendary which meant they played more songs from it and thank you based god for blessing me with this wonderful music, this wonderful band, these wonderful people I've met and bands I've found because of it all.
Some favourites that aren't on Legendary:
Papercut- The way you can hear Brian's voice shake near the end when he gets really into it I just, I don't know what to do. It's so real.
Mannequin- My brother approves and I think the concept of this one is a little different than anything I've heard.
Young- I played this song so much in the 9th grade I think everyone around me could sing along, I even made a music video cover for it (when those were still a thing on YouTube). Makes me love how I'm a teenager and I can rebel and I can do what I want. In Theory. I wanna fall in love.
*They also did a cover set of Taylor Swift songs that's available on iTunes and I like it heaps.
:)