To wrap up Season 2, we are joined by Dana from The Two Week Notice Podcast as we draft a Fantasy Festival lineup from the bands we’ve covered this season.
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For almost a year now, we’ve been telling stories of emo and emo-adjacent bands we loved when we were growing up. We’ve explored concept albums, struggles with major labels, murder in the desert and we’ve even found that some bands we loved then maybe don’t satisfy us today, the way they did in 2004.
Each week our listeners have been regaled with tales from our friend, comedian Ash Greblo. With his weekly segment ‘Shinfo with Greblo’, he has shared his thoughts, feelings and culinary insights about almost all of the bands we’ve covered on this show. In this episode, he takes the reins.
Music by Lukas Graham/Alternative Sounds
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Forming in 2002, Anberlin released their sophomore record Never Take Friendship Personal in 2005, garnering praise for its ample hooks, sweeping melodies and accessible sheen. Eventually the band would go on to be signed by major label Universal Republic, experiencing significantly improved record sales, radio play and bigger touring opportunities, but it is Never Take Friendship Personal that represents Anberlin’s time in the scene the best.
Horsell Common were a 3-piece rock band from Melbourne, Victoria releasing their one and only full length record The Rescue in 2007, before calling it a day in 2010. The Rescue features high octane tracks like Good From Afar, delicate duets like Annie, If You’re Listening and a guest feature by Anberlin’s Stephen Christian on I’m Dead. The Rescue remains a criminally underrated release, by a criminally underrated band - owing in part to their untimely demise.
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At the height of the emo craze of the mid-2000s, Melbourne, like many other major cities around the world, was home to its own thriving emo music scene. With dedicated nightclubs like Next and Bang, a dearth of live music venues and independent music stores, being an emo in Melbourne did not make you an outsider - unless you were one of those creeps who liked to spend time on the Flinders St steps. With acts like Closure in Moscow, Carpathian and The Getaway Plan, being an emo in Melbourne gave you access to incredible local talent, as well as the international touring artists they would inevitably support.
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One of the earliest examples of Christian metalcore in the “scene”, The Devil Wears Prada have never been afraid to wear their faith on their sleeves. And though their earliest records are filled with worship, TDWP like Underoath and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster before them presented their faith as a lived experience rather than an imposition, allowing both Christian and secular fans to enjoy their music equally.
TDWP has endured the ebbs and flows of a volatile scene that has lacked stability for nearly a decade. Despite this, the band have managed to persevere through member instability, and significant label changes to continue to produce music that demonstrates growth, whilst also retaining their signature metalcore sensibilities.
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In 2000, Chris Carrabba of Further Seems Forever would release his first solo album Swiss Army Romance under the name Dashboard Confessional. He would soon leave Further Seems Forever to focus solely on Dashboard Confessional, citing that his desire to do the hard work it would take to be a successful musician was greater than that of his bandmates.
Dashboard Confessional have gone on to release multiple gold records and despite a hiatus between 2011-2015 the band endures to this day, partly owing to Carrabba’s legacy as an emo legend but more so because of hard work, a passion for fans and people, and authentic songwriting.
Song: Silent Partner - Cue
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Listen to the Two Week Notice Podcast Interview with Chris Carrabba - Two Week Notice: #064: Chris Carrabba (Dashboard Confessional) on Apple Podcasts
In 2002, Glassjaw released their sophomore album ‘Worship and Tribute’. The band was a major part of the Long Island music scene and are credited as being a significant influence in the underground post-hardcore scene, with a sonic appeal and live show aspired to and mimicked by many.
Vocalist Daryl Palumbo’s well documented battle with Crohn’s disease, along with lineup instability has contributed to the band only releasing 3 full length records up until now. The band’s ability to retain an audience and continue to sell out shows on the back of 20 year old records is a testament to the legacy of their music, but also provides a bittersweet experience for long term fans as a vast number of Glassjaw diehards, particularly in Australia had to wait until they were older, sweatier and balder to shout the songs they loved as teens. Thankfully, these songs still endure to this day.
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Kurt Travis’ time in Dance Gavin Dance is profoundly unique amidst the folklore and history of a band that is already described as profoundly unique. Travis joined the band in 2007 after the removal of Jonny Craig. His time in the band between then and 2010 was a period which saw Dance Gavin Dance at its most unstable, but also its most experimental. The band released two records with Travis at the helm, 2008s Self-Titled (also known as Death Star) and 2009s Happiness. The two records were released within a year of each other but were starkly different.
Music by Chiptune Planet
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Coheed and Cambria are an American progressive rock band from Nyack, New York. Contentiously classified as emo in their early years, the band is known to incorporate elements of alternative rock, new prog, progressive metal, post-hardcore and metal into their sound. Throughout their discography the band has created a conceptual world and mythos of their own with the aid of science fiction novels and comic books that help tell the complete story.
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Formed in 2003, A Day to Remember has released 7 full length records since their debut in 2005. Their next 3 records, 2007s For Those Who Have Heart, 2009s Homesick and 2010s What Separates Me From You were all released on Victory records before the band initiated legal proceedings against the label for breach of contract.
Typified by their unique blend of hardcore and pop-punk, A Day to Remember have gained a reputation for being one of the most electric live bands in the scene.
Music by JPow Flicks
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Atreyu are an American Metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California. They formed in 1998 and released their debut record Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses in 2002, before their sophomore effort The Curse left an indelible mark on the scene in 2004.
In reference to Atreyu’s sound Adrien Begrand of PopMatters said "Atreyu is too goth to be emo, too metal to be punk, and too brazenly emotional to be metal". He also noted the way the band fused elements of heavy metal, psychedelic rock, gothic rock, hardcore punk, thrash metal, blues rock, emo,hard rock, screamo and melodic death metal.
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Maylene and the Sons of Disaster’s debut self-titled record incorporated elements of what would become their signature southern sound, whilst also leaning heavily on metalcore. The band would go on to refine their sound on their follow up record II in 2007 and 2009s III would again show the band’s progression away from metalcore, and closer to southern rock.
It was announced in 2016 that frontman Dallas Taylor had been hospitalized due to an ATV accident. Taylor had incurred multiple broken bones, internal bleeding, and significant head injuries. For the past 5 years, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster have been inactive due to Taylor’s ongoing rehabilitation but the band has recently announced their return for Furnace Fest 2022 in their hometown of Birmingham, Alabama.
Song: Darren Curtis - Gunslinger From The Brink
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Taking Back Sunday’s first three records were, and still are, essential emo listening. 2002’s Tell All Your Friends was a spirited debut that helped the band stand out from the crowd, while 2004s Where You Want to Be showcased a new maturity to the bands songwriting before jumping to a major label for 2006s Louder Now, a high energy record that showcased the talent but also the turmoil in the band.
Led by charismatic frontman Adam Lazzara, Taking Back Sunday from Long Island, New York have been performing for over two decades, with 7 full length records under their belt in what has been a long and impressive career.
Song: Yeti - Itchy and Scratchy
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Downtown Battle Mountain is an expertly crafted vision of chaos and beauty. The R&B-influenced cleans of vocalist Jonny Craig both soar and soothe while screaming vocalist Jon Mess starkly contrasts his namesake and counterpart with a screaming style that is dwarfed by the absurdity of his lyricism.
Despite present day success, the band failed to capitalise on the following they were building as vocalist Jonny Craig was kicked out before this version of the band could truly bloom. In 2010, Craig would return to the band to record and release Downtown Battle Mountain II.
DBM2 would ultimately showcase the more laid-back side of Jonny Craig, along with the more experimental Dance Gavin Dance that had emerged on their previous record, Happiness. DBM2 would feature rap verses from guitarist Will Swan and complete departures from genre in songs like Blue Dream.
Song: Chiptune - And I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman
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Finch released their debut record What it is to Burn in 2002 via Drive-Thru records. The record was described by Allmusic as “phenomenal” with praise given to the way it carefully rode the line between emo, pop punk and hardcore. What it is to Burn would go on to sell over 400,000 copies with bands like Saosin, A Day to Remember and The Amity Affliction all citing the profound impact of this record on their own music.
Fueling the success of Burn, Finch toured extensively - headlining countless tours, performing at international festivals as well as appearing on late night TV slots but by 2004 the band had largely fallen out of the public eye. In 2005, they released Say Hello to Sunshine to overwhelmingly mixed reviews. The band had steered sharply in a different direction from their debut release and while some were impressed with the change in direction, others were bitterly disappointed that the record had not built upon the sound of the first record.
Song: Silent Partner - East
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