Yeah, that’s a pretty nice mail day. ‘Dyed’ is definitely one of my favorites of the year so far (and I had to grab that covers album).

Finally. This is a holy grail addition to the collection for me, an album I’ve wanted and been chasing for years.

Having this in my hands has made my entire week. One of my favorite albums of the last decade, easily one of my most played, and a modern classic.

July 22, 2003 was one of my favorite album release days of all time. Over the years I’ve collected many versions of these two albums, and they remain two of my favorite albums, ever. What I wrote in 2018:

On July 22nd, 2003 both Yellowcard’s ‘Ocean Avenue’ and Thrice’s ‘The Artist in the Ambulance’ were released. I was home between my sophomore and junior year of college and both albums imprinted on me like few ever have. Driving around my hometown, seeing old friends, reigniting old flames, these two albums became a part of my summer. AbsolutePunk.net was just becoming something I thought I wanted to do with my life and much of what that website would become was created with these two albums as the soundtrack. I was still very much trying to figure out who I was as a person, and these albums felt like a foothold of hope on the future. Watching Yellowcard’s meteoric rise, a bunch of kids that felt almost like peers, gave me a boost of confidence during a time I needed to think things could get better. The world was changing, my world was changing.

15 years later that summer remains one of the best of my life. The friendships made, the hearts broken, the speakers blown out, it all feels like a moment frozen in time. An idealized summer that probably wasn’t nearly what I’ve made up in my mind all these years later. But I hold it dear nonetheless. And when I put on ‘Ocean Avenue’, and hear “Back Home,” I’m transported back 15 years ago when that song meant everything to me. A rallying call for what my life was and a romanticized version for what I wanted it to be. And that feeling of home intersplices with the intensity of Thrice’s ‘The Artist in the Ambulance,’ an album I used as an outlet for my anger at the world, at the war, at myself and all the chaos that felt just beyond the borders of my hometown. Two sides of me dueling it out through two albums released on the same day, during the same summer.

So, here’s to you July 22nd, 2003. I’ll always remember you fondly.

I shared an article on the website today that talks about why music tastes solidify in our youth and we return to the music of our teens through thirties for basically the rest of our lives. I (obviously) still seek out new music on a weekly basis and love nothing more than discovering a new favorite band, but there is something so comforting about returning to an old musical friend. One of my pet theories is those summer albums you spent your late teens blasting in the car right after getting your license find an even deeper way into your heart. Summer break, that first taste of (relative) freedom, and nothing to do but drive around trying to blow out your speakers. Boys Like Girls’ debut is one of those albums for me. It’s always screamed of summer and ushering in sunny days and warm evenings. Not surprisingly, Martin’s songwriting has continued to stick with me all these years later. (Do not sleep on those Night Game albums.)

Anyway, here’s to growing up and still spinning our youthful faves. And here’s to summer 2024.

#vinyl

The weather is starting to turn here in Portland. You can feel it in the city. People are starting to spend more time in the park across the street, the temperature is creeping upward, and this week has been ideal to break out this pop-punk gem from last year. Reminding me of the best parts of Sum-41 and early Blink-182, with a fresh youthful perspective, this is easily one of my favorite pop-punk releases in a long time. A worthy addition to not only one of my favorite genres, but my favorite summer albums playlist as well. (And once I saw this t-shirt I knew I had to order it. Could that be anymore me?)

Brian Fallon has long been one of my favorite lyricists, with dozens of classics under his belt, but there’s a line on the new Gaslight Anthem album that I keep running over and over in my head. Midway through “Autumn” he sings, “I wish I could do my life over, I’d be young better now,” and that lyric has haunted me ever since I first heard it. Such a damning description of growing older, looking back at life, and reflecting on the passing of time. At its core, ‘History Books’ feels like an album full of reflection, rejuvenation, and grace. It’s an album I was unsure we’d ever get, but one that sits proudly alongside the band’s storied catalog.

Sitting here by the fire on another Sunday evening, music softly playing, and thinking about a future where I’ll look back on today as when I was younger. I find it easier to start each week with that as my perspective.

Congratulations to @blink182 on another number one album! My two variants have arrived and I’m just as happy with them as I am the album itself. Beyond my wildest dreams of what I could have hoped for when we heard Tom was coming back.

My full review is up on the website and the feedback has been a little overwhelming. Thank you to everyone for the kind words and for sharing with me how much this band has meant to you over the years. I had a good feeling I wasn’t the only one that felt the way I did, that grew up with blink-182 and experienced much of life soundtracked by their music.

With October coming to an end, I realize how little I’ve posted here over the past year. Not for lack of record buying. 😬 I guess I should try and step that up over the next few months and share some of the new additions.

#blink-182 #blink182 #vinyl

I remember turning 20. I was a sophomore in college building the website that would, in many ways, define the next two decades of my life. It was 2003. And while countless albums from those years left a mark on me, it’s often Fall Out Boy’s blue painted ‘Take This To Your Grave’ I think about the most. They blow up. My website blows up. And so begins a two-decade ride of following this band’s career. And it’s over these years that I find myself intertwined with the songs. Each album holds a special place in my memory for where I was when I first heard it, who I was with, and the person I was, even if that wasn’t the person I wanted to be. Those early albums became the soundtrack to my stumbling twenties. And when I turned 30 in 2013 I wrote about the band’s rebirth in a way that looking back was not so subtly partially autobiographical. So, it’s only fitting that I turn 40 a week before the band releases another album. In many ways, the perfect cosmic bow tie of coincidence. In others, the exact music I need to hear as I’m evaluating the person I am now, the life I lead, and the future ahead of me. Ever since I first listened to those early demos, there’s been something about how Patrick thinks about music that aligns almost identically with what my brain craves. The way he crafts melodies, uses syncopation, starts, stops, speeds up, and builds songs has been soul candy since the beginning. And it’s why from the moment I first hit play on their new one a few weeks ago I’ve had a massive smile on my face just thinking about the songs and what they created. It’s an album that wears obvious influence from each era of the band. And it culminates in arguably the band’s most cohesive and ambitious album since ‘Folie.’ I grew up listening to Fall Out Boy. If there’s a band that can define where I came from to where I am today it’s hard not to think of this one. And at the precipice of middle age, of no longer being able even half to pretend I’m not an adult, I find comfort in turning to this old friend once again. A boy on a couch with headphones, typing away about the music that moves him. I am, as I ever was, me. God damn, what a band. God damn, what an album.

Sunday evening, a brief moment before the wheel of the week begins again. It’s here where we lean our shoulder against the hour hand, hoping to prolong a weekend bliss, holding onto the seconds before the inevitable churn of the week ahead swallows us in her seas.

And it’s here that I often find myself reaching for the albums that make me feel motivated, the ones that can pull back the weekend haze and prepare me for the job ahead. Lately, that’s included coming back to Anberlin’s ‘Cities,’ an album that still has the same propulsive drive and polish to sound as fresh and modern as the day it was released. I’ve found myself starting the week with this at the top of my playlist, and my Monday’s not seeming so daunting.

“They lied when they said the good die young…”

#anberlin #vinyl

Long ago, an online friend, Drew Sung, messaged me on AIM and told me he had a new band I should check out. I told him to send me a song. He said he couldn’t yet since they didn’t have a singer finalized, but that he’d drive down to Redlands and play it for me. So, sitting in my sophomore dorm room, we hit play together on the all instrumental version of this EP. My jaw just about bounced off the floor. I asked about the missing singer, he said they were trying one out who he thought could be a “game changer.” I asked if they had a band name, he said he wasn’t sure but they were tossing around “Saosin” as an idea. A few weeks later the MP3’s with Anthony Green’s instantly iconic vocals showed up. I think I wrote something back like, “this may very well shape the curvature of the music scene, in the future we may talk about music before this album, and then music after this album.” I’m not sure how much of my teenage hyperbole came to pass, but this release remains an absolute monster. A force in power and unmistakeable passion. An album that to this day can knock me on my ass and dominate an entire day with just 15 minutes, and five incredible songs.

I’m beyond happy to finally have this in my collection, and the smile on my face when it arrived today was not unlike when I first heard it all those years ago.

#saosin #vinyl #whenwereyoung

Anyone that knows me, or has been following my newsletter, knows just how excited I am to finally add this one into the collection. Not only one of my favorite pop-punk albums ever, but an album that’s has come to define the changing of the weather for me. As winter fades and we march into spring, my soul craves the bounce in these songs. A joyful throwback to the smell of freshly cut grass, sun soaked skin, and carefree nights.

It’s not quite summer, but I can feel it sneaking through the clouds.

#vinyl #newfoundglory

Walking into the weekend with a new one: this fantastic fast melodic punk album from A Wilhelm Scream. I’ve long thought of this band as one of my all time faves, and a big reason is that they just don’t miss. Album after album of incredible adrenaline pumping jams, and no matter how much time they take between albums I always know they’re going to deliver.

#vinyl #awilhelmscream

Haven’t posted anything for a while since I was spending most of my nights working on an album review the past week or so. But this week has me diving back into a whole bunch of Ace Enders and The Early November tunes and it’s a … looks at camera … real gold rush of quality tunes. Running the gamut of genres, from rock, to soft and introspective, there’s something for literally every mood. Tonight has me spinning this one and it’s working well for these early evening spring showers.

#vinyl #icanmakeamess #aceenders #theearlynovember

I look outside on this beautiful Friday evening as the sun hovers just above the city line, and I can feel summer right around the bend. The air aching for BBQs, long walks, sunglasses and flip-flops. I’ve spilled many words about Yellowcard’s ‘Ocean Avenue’ over the years and the impact it had on a young boy setting off for college in California. Leaving behind friends, family, and relationships led to the album’s themes seemingly mirroring my new life. But tonight, I’m reaching for the acoustic version of the album and the subdued renditions of these perfect pop-punk gems. If the original was made for sunny summer days, the acoustic soundtracks these warming nights — the change in weather peeking between a calming cool breeze. Cold hazy beer in hand, sitting here and remembering those college years, when all I wanted in my life is what I now have right here. A healthy life, a cold beer, and great music.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

#yellowcard #vinyl

I thought we were moving toward spring and then all of a sudden we have snow and the return of the rain here in Portland. Perfect weather to break out some Copeland. All of the band’s albums have been very attached to specific seasons for me, usually when it’s softer out, colder. And they make me want to sit by a warm fire, pour a stiff drink, and just get lost in their beauty. So I think I will.

#copeland #vinyl