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Joy, Departed: Album in Review

Earlier last week, Connecticut-based pop-punk band, Sorority Noise, released their sophomore album, Joy, Departed, through Topshelf Records. The album was up for stream over at Noisey a day before its actual release on June 16th and had many eager Sorority Noise fans listening with high hopes after listening to previous releases from the album such as “Art School Wannabe” and “Nolsey”.

I personally have been listening to Sorority Noise since 2013 when a friend showed me their song “Still Shrill” back when all they had out was their Young Luck ep. Ever since then I’ve been hooked; following the band on Twitter waiting for updates on shows and new releases. The band’s first album, Forgettable, was released last year and I think it’s safe to say it was a phenomenal 1st album which is why Joy, Departed had many listeners on their toes waiting for its release.

Joy, Departed, in my opinion, is a bitter sweet album filled with slow sad meaningful lyrics and slow sad guitars that lead up to heart wrenching solos. The album, unlike Forgettable, is a lot more mature dealing with serious issues like depression. In a recent interview with Alternative Press, frontman Cameron Boucher spoke on points dealing with depression and how it grew into a major factor on the making of Joy, Departed. The album itself was definitely a step up from their first album in the lyrical sense. With songs like “Blissth” and “Your Soft Blood” taking you by the shoulders and shaking the emotion out of you. Aside from the “emo” songs on the album, there are definitely a lot of pop punk influences that bring me back to Forgettable. With songs like “Art School Wannabe” (which features Jake Ewald from Modern Baseball) and “Using” the band had very punk-y sounds that tied the album altogether into a bitter-y sweet tune. 

You can listen to Joy, Departed here on Sorority Noise’s band camp and catch them on tour all summer!

Follow Denise on Twitter @violentinsides

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Alt Press posted a column entitled “On going to shows alone as a girl and why it sucks” the other day, and, to be completely honest, I thought it was an awful piece of journalism. As someone who often goes to shows alone and also is a girl, I thought the column was a very warped reflection of the scene and of girls in the scene. I don’t really know what that girl experiences in whatever Monster-Energy-Drink-and-Vic-Fuentes-fueled trip she’s living in but it all seems crazy to me. After thinking on my past experiences and having some extensive internet chats, I compiled a little list of why going to shows alone may or may not be for you.

Pros

You can be as weird as you want. If you’re like me, you don’t feel totally comfortable letting loose in front of people that might judge you. Especially since I’m fairly reserved most of the time, I’m hesitant to dance and move around with people that don’t usually see me like that. When I don’t know anyone, I’m free to do whatever I want without judgement. The first and only time I tried to stage dive was at a show that I attended alone in a scene where I knew absolutely no one. Sometimes obscurity is freeing.

You won’t miss out. Some people are really lucky and have a huge group of friends that are into the same music, but most people don’t. If you’re more worried about who’s going to be there than the band you’re going to see, you’re going to miss out on a lot of good experiences. It’s a lot more sad to be sitting at home alone missing a good show than hanging out in a venue without friends. As in the Touche Amore song “Condolences,” if what’s more important than the music played than who’d attend, we are the same. And who doesn’t want to be more like Jeremy Bolm?

No one can ruin the show for you. Missing the Wonder Years on the Greatest Generation tour after my sick friend made me take her home turned me off going to shows with people for a long, long time. If a friend isn’t as ~experienced~ as I am at getting around a show, I feel obligated to babysit them, making sure they don’t stumble into a pushpit or forget to tip the merch guy. The person you go with might want to stand in the back or push all the way to the front or stay three hours after the show to hug some sweaty band dudes. There are so many things that could go wrong, and, frankly, it’s just not worth the risk.

Making new friends?? I have literally never done this at a show because I’m terrified of talking to strangers, but if being outgoing is your thing, it’s possible you might have a better time showing up alone. While you’re waiting in line and standing between sets, you’ll have the perfect opportunity to connect with new people over your shared interests.

Cons

You can’t share your experience. If I have a great experience at a show I want to talk to people about it. The thing is though, if I didn’t go with a friend, I have to find someone who cares enough about a show they didn’t go to to listen to me go on about it. As these people are hard to find, I usually end up flooding my followers’ Twitter timelines with anecdotes or gushing to a friend who would rather be doing anything else. This is less of a negative to me and more of a negative to the people around me, but, while I hate to bottle up my memories and emotions, I also hate to be annoying.

The general convenience factor. A friend can hold your spot in line. A friend can spot you a couple bucks for a drink. A friend can text your mom for you when your phone dies. Sure, you can ask a stranger to help you out, but approaching people is the worst and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. 

Anxiety. I hope I’m not wrong in saying that our music scene (and many others) have higher proportions of people with anxiety than the general public. If being in a crowded, loud space triggers someone’s anxiety, being alone could make make it worse. Thankfully, my anxiety about a show usually dissipates when I walk in a dark, loud venue, but I can see how it might be the opposite for many people.

There are so many different people in this world and I understand that these pros and cons won’t ever apply to everyone in the exact same way. At the end of the day though, the main things you should be focused on at a show are yourself and the music. Nobody cares if you’re there alone or with a group of ten people because everyone’s there for the same reason: to see the bands they love play the songs they love. Dan on DPPG sums it up best: “If you’re doing it right, you’re going to lose your friends the second the first note is played anyway.” See ya at the rock show

Follow Olivia on Twitter @livxstern

For more reading, check out the original AP column, commentary on Property of Zack, and the thread on DPPG.

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OMG, FBR signs TFB

This past week, indie/folk punk band The Front Bottoms announced that they have signed to Fueled by Ramen (Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots, Paramore) at their show in Brooklyn, with a new album coming this fall. Along with the surprise single that was released two weeks ago, TFB released another song the same night as their signing announcement.

Fueled by Ramen is label known for bringing Alternative musicians and bands to the radio, I remember listening to Fun. in middle school and not having a single person that even vaguely knew who they were. But, the next thing I knew, Glee covered “We Are Young” and it became a #1 hit worldwide. Even though Fun.’s second album sold better than their first, Some Nights is a much weaker album both lyrically and emotionally as compared to Aim and Ignite.

I remember when I first fell in love with The Front Bottoms. I remember sitting in my room alone one late night during the school year and listening to Twin Sized Mattress and getting goosebumps from how good it was. I remember listening to Bathtub every day for a month straight until I couldn’t listen anymore. I remember listening to Santa Monica and getting tearing up as Sella sang “I wanna be stronger than your dad was for your mom.”, remembering all the times my parents were close to a divorce, wondering that, since I’ve never actually seen love, if I will ever actually feel it. The Front Bottoms made me feel things I didn’t know I could.

Maybe I’m just being sentimental, but I really hope TFB doesn’t lose sight of who they are because money or fame. I also feel that it is very anti-punk for a folk punk band to sign with a label like this; RFCR or Topshelf would’ve been a much better choice. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great opportunity for the band, and it’s like seeing your children grow up right in front of your eyes. But, I would hate to lose them as one of my favorite bands. 

Though I hope this is not the case, folk punk hasn’t really met the mainstream yet, and if that is what the band’s main goal is in the end, the pop-influences in their music will have to increase immensely. 

As for their new songs… I feel that they are very okay. Not great, not bad, just okay. Subpar, if you will. I really do hope that this is not the case for the rest of the album, I just wish this band could make me “feel” things like they used to.

Wherever this road takes them, I wish The Front Bottoms all the best.

This article was written by an admin. Follow Atticpunk on Twitter: @atticpunk

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Dear Friends,

Hello, we are atticpunk, and we are a music blog. But, we're not not just your average daily-news-from-a-biased-and-borderline-condescending-viewpoint-music blog (you know who we're referring to here). We are 100% anonymous, and our writers are all just fans with a voice that want to be heard. Here you will find solid news and opinions from a variety of viewpoints, even your own if you choose to submit a piece. You will also find raw perspectives of the scene, and because we are anonymous, we will not hold back whatsoever; bringing you news the way it should be. We hope you support us as we embark on this journey, we can't wait to begin. 

This is our word. Hoc est verbum nostrum. 

Love,

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