Review: Neon Trees – I Can Feel You Forgetting Me

Adam Grundy Jul 31, 2020

There was a time when we all really didn’t know if we would ever get another Neon Trees album. After the release of their excellent third studio album in 2014, Pop Psychology, the band took a lengthy hiatus. Front-man Tyler Glenn released a solo album in 2016 that detailed his internal struggle with religion and his sexuality called Excommunication. There were a few teasers of new music from the band in the form of one-off singles such as “Feel Good” and “Songs I Can’t Listen To,” but no further announcements of them working towards anything concrete. The song “Used To Like” made its appearance out of nowhere in the middle of November, and that sparked a newfound interest in the band after so much time away. As shitty as a year as 2020 has been, we give our thanks to Neon Trees for making a brilliant comeback album called I Can Feel You Forgetting Me. This album is a collection of songs detailing the heartbreak in Tyler Glenn’s personal life and possibly a dual meaning of making their longtime fans remember the band they fell in love with in the first place. The vibes set forth on this LP teeter on the verge of a nighttime summer album, and the songs lend themselves well to the lofty expectations placed upon themselves in the legacy of their discography.

Anna Acosta Jul 30, 2020

Taylor Swift album cycles are starting to feel like Fall Out Boy lyrics circa 2005: Which came first, the ~~music~~ Taylor Swift record or the ~~misery~~ discourse? And I’m like, I just, I mean… this is exhausting, you know?

This time around, Taylor did something very new (for her). In a move that honestly only really works for the highest rollers in entertainment, she surprise-unleashed a 16 track full length, titled folklore, on the unsuspecting internet at large. Response was massive, immediate, and polarizing. For a huge number of listeners, both in the private and critical spheres, this release has been lauded as one of her best yet. It credits indie heavyweights Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon on the track “exile,” and the record’s production has The National’s Aaron Dessner all over it. To the more casual Swift listener–or to be exact, the “I’ve heard her singles, and that’s it” listener–this venture into the world of “indie” is out of character and out of left field, and as a result… feathers have been ruffled. And as tends to be the case with these things, the resulting discourse has, yet again, overwhelmingly failed to validate its own complaints. As usual with Taylor, it does this by focusing on snippy critiques mired more in misogyny than in the actual issues at play here.

Jason Tate Jul 29, 2020

The early versions of these “back to” articles felt like I was looking at a distant past, a version of myself that was so far removed from who I am today, a version doing things I can only remember around the edges. More the shape of memory, less defined lines. This year we get to 2013, only a couple years from the end of this iteration of this project.1 I look at the staff’s 2013 best of list and the memories around these albums feel fresh in my mind. I remember the buzz around The National. I remember The Wonder Years destroying our web server with the most-streamed song premiere we ever did. To date, that song’s been streamed over a half a million times on Soundcloud. I remember the return of Fall Out Boy, the legal drama of A Day to Remember, the My Chemical Romance hiatus, and my utter obsession with this new band called The 1975.

I have an idea of what I am going to do once we get to 2015.↩

Review: Taylor Swift – Folklore

Craig Manning Jul 29, 2020

Not many songwriters have ever been better than Taylor Swift at opening up a window into their own life. While songwriting is often a deeply personal artform, one of Swift’s greatest strengths has always been her ability to make listeners feel like she was singing to them from the pages of her diary. Some of her greatest songs—“All Too Well,” “Last Kiss,” “Long Live,” “Soon You’ll Get Better,” “Lover”—are snapshots of important moments or milestones of her life that she felt her fans deserved to live along with her: boys who broke her heart; triumphs of her young life; her mom’s battle with cancer; the relationship that might just stand the test of time. She’s always written these stories vividly, with details that make them feel as lived-in to you as your own memories: the places, the dates, the objects, the articles of clothing, the colors, the refrigerator light. Swift got so good so early on at telling her own story that, by the time she got to her most recent albums—2017’s Reputation and last year’s Lover—the songs had begun to feel like her chance to have the last word on all the tabloid bullshit that had built up around her life. The results were thrilling, but they sometimes lacked the lovely, unguarded scene-setting she’d perfected on Speak Now and Red. Instead of feeling like diary pages, the lyrics felt a bit like op-eds—still honest, still written with the strong voice of an obviously skilled scribe, but more clearly meant for public consumption. The thing that had made Swift seem most special at first—that you could picture her writing these songs in her bedroom, with no idea whether anyone would ever hear them—wasn’t as present anymore.

Craig Manning Jul 27, 2020

Taking a page from Drew Beringer’s book, and in line with Jason bringing back old historical content, I’ve begun restoring some of my favorite reviews from the AbsolutePunk days:

Adam Grundy Jul 27, 2020

The Richmond, Virginia pop-punk band Broadside have been through some intense changes in their lives, and they are still alive to tell the tale on Into The Raging Sea. Lead vocalist Oliver Baxxter looked inward for inspiration on this latest chapter on his band’s journey to finding their own voice in the crowded punk scene. The themes of overcoming the odds, growing up, and finding inspiration for a “rebirth” of sorts are prevalent on this record. When asked about his plan for overcoming all of the past heartache and the current state of his life, Baxxter said, “From the very beginning, my attitude was: I don’t have shit to look forward to, and everything behind me is trash, so I’m going to make myself the hero of my own story. I’ve always known struggle. As I get older, it’s more mental than physical, but it’s always there.” By taking his own lumps and persevering through it all, Baxxter becomes an instantly relatable presence for the misplaced army of his followers. Into the Raging Sea is a sprawling collection of songs that teeter on the edge of epic proportions, and every now and then Broadside meet their lofty goals on this expansive record.

Brett Bodner Jul 27, 2020

The death of a loved one is a nightmare come to life. It’s something that can completely devastate you, leaving you feeling empty and forever changing life as you know it. While there is that overwhelming sadness, sometimes loss causes those left behind to do something special in their own lives. They find the strength to push forward and honor those who are no longer here.

For Avenged Sevenfold, they suffered a tragedy on December 28, 2009 when their drummer, Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan, died at the age of 28 from an accidental opioid overdose. The Rev had become widely known as one of the best drummers in the metal scene, and his death stunned the world. Avenged Sevenfold had become a household name at this point, thanks to the success of their albums City of Evil and the self-titled Avenged Sevenfold. They were becoming one of the biggest rock bands in the world and just as they were in the process of making a new album, Avenged Sevenfold lost one of their brothers.

Garrett Lemons Jul 24, 2020

Brightest Blue is Ellie Goulding’s attempt to tell us exactly who she is.

In my preview of Brightest Blue through a review of EG.0, the accompanying EP (which she has since rightfully tacked “Sixteen” onto on streaming services), I wrote that “I sometimes think that Ellie Goulding didn’t know what to do with herself.” Over the next couple of days, interviews began to appear that supported this.

“I feel like I’ve never been able to explore who I am as a songwriter and as a pop artist. So that’s what [Brightest Blue] is,” she told London’s Evening Standard. In the Guardian, she talks of choosing Max Martin as a producer for 2015’s Delirium: “I need to commit to something. No one seems to know what I am. Maybe I don’t know who I am.”

Jason Tate Jul 22, 2020

2012, only eight years ago, but it feels so much further away. It was the year the world was supposed to end, and yet the current state of things feels far more apocalyptic than almost anything from 2012.

Looking at the AbsolutePunk list from this year throws me in two different directions. First, it’s a year with a lot of really great rock albums. From The Menzingers, The Gaslight Anthem, Japandroids, Every Time I Die, and many others. And second, it’s the year of Fun.’s Some Nights. For whatever reason, I forgot that all of this was happening at the same time. In my head, I never associated The Gaslight Anthem’s Handwritten happening while Fun. was blowing up across the country. It’s weird how time can play tricks on your brain like that.

At a high level, this staff complied list feels pretty representative of where the music scene was in 2012 and where we, as a publication, were starting to try and branch out a little more with our musical tastes. You see Taylor Swift’s Red on this list, an album that would do very well in our best of the decade list. And you also will find Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar making appearances.1 And then it’s also a year where a lot of heavier music and scene staples were putting out releases. Every Time I Die released Ex Lives, Code Orange Kids released Love is Love / Return to Dust, and Yellowcard put out Southern Air next to Anberlin’s Vital. Whereas last week had me coming to the realization that a lot of the albums in 2011 were great albums that often ended up becoming my least favorite of the bands’ respective catalog, looking at my list from this year is virtually the opposite. This is the year of albums that would, in time, make a run as being my favorite release from some of the bands that feature. It’s my favorite Japandroids record, I think I’ve come to conclude it’s my favorite Yellowcard record, it’s my favorite Every Time I Die record, it’s my favorite All-American Rejects record, and mewithoutYou, Now, Now, Stars, and The Menzingers all make a case as well. I don’t think it’s my favorite The Gaslight Anthem record, but there are times where I think it’s the best Gaslight Anthem record. When I think about the run The Gaslight Anthem had, and include Brian’s work with The Horrible Crowes, it feels like everything was leading to that record. And along with with Fun.’s Some Nights, it is probably what I most associate the year with in my head.

And it was the year of that one Mackelmore album everyone kind of liked for a while.↩

Interview: Tom Mullen

Adam Grundy Jul 22, 2020

This past week, I was able to have an enlightening conversation with Tom Mullen (of the Washed Up Emo podcast) ahead of him releasing the next Anthology of Emo book. In this interview, Tom and I chatted about what the word “emo” means to him today, the process he goes through for preparing for an interview or podcast, and vivid memories Tom has of experiencing emo culture. As much as I know about emo and punk music, Tom Mullen puts my knowledge to shame with his expansive understanding and first-hand experience of the scene, and I learned a great deal from just a short conversation with him.

The first volume of Anthology of Emo was wildly successful and it sold out its initial run of physical copies. Volume Two features exclusive interviews from his Washed Up Emo podcasts with artists such as Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World and Chris Conley from Saves the Day, among many others. Both Volume One (reprinted) and Volume Two are available for pre-order here.

Drew Beringer Jul 22, 2020

Hey remember AbsolutePunk.net? Once upon a time I used to write a lot of reviews. Hard to believe, I know. Jokes aside, Twitter and Jason’s “Re-Ranking The Decades” series dialed up the nostalgic side of me. I wanted to see if I still had some of the reviews I’d written over the past decade or so. Turns out, my iCloud Drive has a lot. Now I won’t be re-publishing every thing I’ve ever written (some of these documents deserve to stay buried in the depths of my hard drive), but I wanted to share the reviews that brought about a ton of lively discussion and debate on the records that defined that site and a lot of our musical interests. Cool? Cool. Now to see if I can bring back scene points….

Adam Grundy Jul 20, 2020

On their sophomore record, Under My Influence, The Aces have fully come to terms with who they are as people as well as artists. Led by the trio of singles such as “Daydream,” “My Phone is Trying To Kill Me,” and “Kelly,” The Aces have rounded out their sound that they introduced to the world on their debut, When My Heart Felt Volcanic. As great as their debut LP was, their second record feels more authentic, raw, and present. The most noticeable difference between this record and their debut is their improved songwriting. Also, in recent interviews, the band mentioned their conscious effort to embrace who they truly are by using the proper pronouns in the lyrics to describe their relationships. “Having not used pronouns, I don’t know if we could have gone as deep and personal on this record as we did. That is really just the truth,” Cristal Ramirez remarks. “It was this obvious thing that had to go hand in hand. To get more personal, you have to get more specific and actually bare your soul. Those were the stories of our life. We were dating women, and I was having a lot of different relationships start and end. It had to happen to make this album.” What we are left with is The Aces most honest artistic statement to date.

Adam Grundy Jul 16, 2020

Every once in a while you come across a band whose evolution takes you by surprise. When I last sat down to write about their EP called Evolution, I could tell that the band were at the cusp of greatness. On their third full-length album, Sunset on this Generation, Amarionette have achieved a stunning accomplishment by releasing their most fully-rounded record to date. The Las Vegas, Nevada quartet is comprised of the charismatic vocalist Issy Berry, guitarist Nick Raya, bassist Ron Wells, and drummer Joseph Arrington, and the band turned to producer Brandon Jones to round out their vision for this record. With a sound reminiscent of scene staples such as Anberlin, Sleeping With Sirens, and Mayday Parade, Amarionette are ready for their moment in the limelight on this LP.

Jason Tate Jul 15, 2020

I used to think about the idea of ‘re-living’ a year. The mental game of knowing what you know now, and seeing what differences you could make in your life with various changes and the superpower of hindsight. After 2020, I don’t think about that much anymore; there are years that should be burned and the ground they’re buried within salted and forgotten. 2011 is a year like that for me; a year I’d spend years getting over.

As I look over the AbsolutePunk staff list from 2011, I’m reminded most of all these little dramatic moments this year inspired. Blink-182 finally released their reunion album, Neighborhoods, and it was instantly polarizing. Was it a great return? Was it garbage? Did the band desperately need an outside producer? Should they be forced to all be in a room writing together? It was virtually instant drama, swift speculation, and all of the excess noise seemed to hum louder than any real discussion of the music itself. And that wouldn’t be the only polarizing release this year. Thrice released Major/Minor, the only album of theirs I don’t unequivocally love, and would soon after take a hiatus. Thursday released No Devolución, a record many thought was a departure from their core sound (but one I’ve long championed as their best work), and then would also take a hiatus. Manchester Orchestra would release Simple Math, and to this day, I can’t tell you what the consensus around that album is. Is it loved? Hated? I feel like I’ve read every single take about that album and still don’t know how it’s thought of within the Manchester Orchestra fanbase. Patrick Stump went solo with Soul Punk, and arguments of selling out and comparisons to Fall Out Boy were inevitable. And then there were The Dangerous Summer at peak Drama Summer. They were one of the buzziest, most talked about, and most adored within our community bands. But those assholes just couldn’t seem to get out of their own way. War Paint is an undeniable album, but I look at my list from 2011, and I have it all the way down at number twenty-eight. I just couldn’t divorce the antics from the music and was so sick of their shit.

Craig Manning Jul 15, 2020

It’s easy at a time like this to start viewing music as trivial, as inessential, as disposable; as something we can cancel and forget. The last few months have been tough. They’ve delayed tours, eliminated annual festivals from the calendar, and left artists unable even to play bars for half-attentive audiences—let alone arenas for hordes of fans. They’ve cleared concert halls, halted opera and symphony seasons, and shut the lights down on Broadway. They’ve made album release days feel almost frivolous, because how can we spend our days talking about or digesting new music when the world seems to be falling apart around us? They’ve caused music writers in my Twitter feed to ponder out loud whether their jobs have meaning or relevance at a time like this. Amazon indirectly labeled books and music as inessential by calling a temporary halt to shipments of physical media like vinyl and CDs.

And yet, in other ways, the past four months have underlined why music matters so much. People in countries like Italy and Spain were quarantined and locked down, unable to interact with one another or even leave their homes. They found solace, connection, and communal emotion by playing or singing together from their balconies. We’ve perhaps never been so cognizant of the physical distances between us. I certainly can’t recall another situation where keeping apart from others was not just a personal choice but a mandate. And yet, music has been forging invisible bridges across those gaps in the air, allowing hearts and voices and melodies to join even in a year where “social distancing” has become a part of our collective vocabulary.

Review: Neon Trees – I Can Feel You Forgetting Me

On Taylor Swift and the Myth of “Limited Space”

Back to 2013 (Re-Ranking the Best of Lists)

Review: Taylor Swift – Folklore

Craig Manning’s AbsolutePunk.net Reviews

Review: Broadside – Into the Raging Sea

Review: Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare

Review: Ellie Goulding – Brightest Blue

Back to 2012 (Re-Ranking the Best of Lists)

Interview: Tom Mullen

Drew Beringer’s AbsolutePunk.net Reviews

Review: The Aces – Under My Influence

Review: Amarionette – Sunset On This Generation

Back to 2011 (Re-Ranking the Best of Lists)

Why Music Still Matters