jakeh2987

[jakeh2987]

I got to contribute to my buddy Bradley's new review of Ocean Avenue! I love talking about Yellowcard and this album any chance I get.

Yellowcard – Ocean Avenue

I’ve made it no secret that my favorite Yellowcard album is 2012’s Southern Air, but 2003’s Ocean Avenue is a close second. Southern Air is one of those albums that’s a perfect distillation of everything they did up to that point, but also managing to be well-executed, well-written, and well-performed. It’s not just another Yellowcard album, even though it could have been. Their 2011 comeback album, When You’re Through Thinking, Say Yes, was more or less a “reunion” album that didn’t necessarily do anything to forward their sound, but it showed the band could still make a “Yellowcard album” after four years of being away. Southern Air, however, was the band with something to prove, as well as them firing on all cylinders. That album is an energetic pop-punk album with a lot of catchy hooks that harkened back to their earlier material but with a sense of maturity and wisdom in the lyrics and musicianship that made the album stick out quite a bit. The themes of the album are about getting older, not knowing where you’re going in life as you get older, and more adult themes in general (including the theme of miscarriage in a song), but the songs themselves are very catchy, fun, and energetic. Southern Air just feels like a great summer record, because it has a sense of wisdom and weariness that their earlier stuff lacked (I almost said maturity, but some of their later albums were very mature, despite how they were still relatively young), but that doesn’t mean their earlier stuff is bad or doesn’t hold up. Ocean Avenue is my second favorite Yellowcard album for the opposite reason of why I love Southern Air – Ocean Avenue was their second album with vocalist Ryan Key, and it felt like a sophomore album, because the band was almost completely different within their first two albums, but Ocean Avenue is a very youthful, energetic, and catchy album.

Ocean Avenue is a very nostalgic album, but it wasn’t nostalgic when it came out. At the time, it was just a solid and unique pop-punk record that included a violinist, but the album’s gotten a large following over the years. If anything, I think this album has held up even more over the years, because of the nostalgia that people have for it. A lot of people really love this album, and they credit this album with getting them into the genre, or even music itself sometimes, but this album has a youthful sound that makes me think back to when I was a kid. This album makes me think of when I was just getting into music, as well as when I was wide-eyed at the world, and I hadn’t really gotten out there to experience the harsh reality of how things really were. Southern Air, on the other hand, isn’t a bitter or jaded record, but it’s a record that has some wisdom and maturity that Ocean Avenue lacks. It’s almost like that record is looking back on Ocean Avenue and reflecting on the themes of that record while adding the life lessons that they’ve learned along the way, and speaking to their past selves. I could sit here and talk about how this album makes me feel young, because of its nostalgic and youthful themes that still hold up all of these years later, but I’ll let my buddy Jake take over to explain why this album works so well and what makes this album so good. I wanted to bring you on board for this piece, because you wrote a retrospective on the album for its 20th anniversary, and you’ve mentioned a lot how this album is important to you, so what’s your history with this album and why does it mean a lot to you?

Thanks for having me on board for this, man! I always love getting to do these with you, but this one is especially exciting because yes, Ocean Avenue is an album that legitimately changed the course of my life, in more ways than one. Like you mentioned, I am one of the people who credits this album with really getting me into music as much as I am; this was the first album I ever bought back in the summer of 2006 after seeing the music video for "Ocean Avenue" a bunch on MTV and being utterly smitten by this style of music I hadn't really experienced before, having mostly grown up with 80's hair metal and later 90's boy bands and pop stars like Britney Spears. Ocean Avenue was the first piece of music I could officially call "mine," in a sense, and I'll never forget my first time listening to it. I happened to have a portable CD player with me in the car the day I bought the CD (which I still have my original copy, nearly 20 years later), so as soon as I left that Walmart, I popped it into that player and listened on the car ride back. Outside of "Ocean Avenue" the song, I had never listened to Yellowcard, or any kind of music like that, really, yet I was hit with this sense of comfort and nostalgia that still hits when I listen to it even now. And I think that's a testament to what you mentioned, but also, it's just got this sincerity to it that makes it really resonate more than other releases at the time did. You may not have had Pete Wentz' wit and cleverness, or Mark Hoppus/Tom Delonge's humor and antics, or early Gerard Way's flair for dramatics, but Ryan Key and his lyrics just felt real, as kinda corny as that sounds. There was a level of authenticity and relatability these songs captured of being young and going through that time in your life that the band managed to capture in a way that resonated back then and still does today. Of course, the hooks are also top-tier, Sean Mackin's violin will always be their secret weapon, and the riffs and drums all have some pretty killer moments. One more thing, too, is thinking about it, I can make the argument to bounce of your earlier point that Southern Air being a companion album of sorts and revisiting a lot of the same themes with an older and wiser mindset only makes Ocean Avenue hold up even more after all these years. If Southern Air is a look ahead to where you're going and the uncertainty that comes with that, Ocean Avenue is a look back at times that were maybe simpler, maybe a little more naive, but still just as resonant to us now. And how many bands can say that two of their albums a decade apart can have such a lasting impact like that?

No, thank you for coming aboard and contributing to this, man! I’m always happy when you come aboard, especially when it’s about an album that we both love, or something we have a lot to say about. I didn’t grow up with this album, and my first Yellowcard album was Southern Air in the summer of 2012, but Ocean Avenue was the next album I listened to. I remember picking that up sometime after at FYE for a few bucks, because I knew that was a classic album in the scene at that point. I’ve always really enjoyed it, and the points you brought up are exactly why. Ryan Key’s always been a great vocalist, but his sense of lyricism was unique from the rest of the pop-punk canon at the time. Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy was a Shakespearian poet, Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge of Blink-182 were the jokesters and pranksters of the scene, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance’s penchant for theatrics and the melodramatic, whereas Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day was starting to become more politically-charged as American Idiot would come out in 2004, but Key’s lyrics were more down-to-earth, grounded in reality, and more sincere. Not that other bands in the scene weren’t sincere, but some of them tried too hard to be funny, and Key was a breath of fresh air in that respect. His lyrics were real, and they were about everyday things, as corny as that may sound. He wasn’t afraid to get serious, too, and a song that I’ve always overlooked on this album (unfortunately so) that goes there is “Believe.” Key talks about the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy, and in 2003 (the song was surely recorded in 2002, as the lyrics mention it being a year ago), that was such a fresh national tragedy, but the song is in tribute to the people that lost their lives, versus being a patriotic jerkoff session like many other songs were at the time.

Southern Air and Ocean Avenue are a pair of albums that are best enjoyed together, because they’re two sides of the same coin. The former is about reflecting on the past and looking towards the future, whereas the former is about reliving the past and having a sense of nostalgia from when you were young and the world was new. Southern Air comes at the idea of nostalgia from a wiser perspective, realizing that you can’t relive the past if you want to move forward. Both albums hold up more now than they did back when they first came out. Southern Air holds up better as you get older, because you can truly understand what Key is saying about aging and not knowing where the future will take you. Ocean Avenue holds up better, because it’s such an innocent, sincere, and honest pop-punk album that makes you feel like you’re taken back to when you were young. Hearing the title track immediately takes me back to when I was a kid, even though I never grew up with the album, but it just has that effect on me. The rest of the album is very nostalgia-inducing, too, but it’s also just a great pop-punk album. That’s what makes the album work at the end of the day – it’s a wonderfully written and executed pop-punk album. There’s a reason why this album is a classic, and I think part of it is for people looking at this album through rose-colored glasses, as well as being nostalgic for it in general, but as someone that didn’t grow up with it, I genuinely enjoy it. It’s a bit on the longer side, clocking in at around 47 minutes, but it’s one of those albums that doesn’t feel its length. I’m always shocked when it’s done, because I’ve been having such a great time with it. A lot of Yellowcard fans say that this is the album you should start off with when you’re getting into them, and I would agree, because this is their most iconic album, but Southern Air is something special, too. You really can’t go wrong with either one, so if you want to start off with an album that exudes youthful energy, Ocean Avenue is the one to get into first, but if you want an album that mixes a sense of youthful energy with wisdom and maturity of someone older, Southern Air is the way to go. Regardless of what you start off with, you’re in for a treat.

[jakeh2987]

Did the thing again and got together with Bradley to yell about all the cool stuff we were into in the third quarter of the year! Already super stoked to look back on 2024 as a whole soon.

Third Quarter Check-In (with @jakeh2987)

Depending on where you’re at in the world, especially the United States, it’s finally fall. I live in the southern half of the country, and while it’s relatively chilly today as I write this, the temperature is supposed to go back up to the mid-70s, so it won’t necessarily feel like fall for awhile. I don’t terribly mind it, however, because I’m not too fond of the cold anymore, despite living it in for the first 26 years of my life. Nonetheless, there is something about the leaves changing color, a slight breeze in the air, all the while wearing a hoodie in the morning and a t-shirt during the afternoon. I do quite enjoy the fall, because it’s not too hot and not too cold at the same time, and I love spooky season, but I’ll be doing something separate for that, so keep a lookout for that piece in the near future. It’s gonna be a spooky old time, I promise.

In the meantime, however, it’s time to fanboy about random stuff again! Every few months, my buddy Jake and I have been getting together and talking about what we’ve been into for the last couple months, whether it comes to new releases of all kinds of media, or releases new to us, because you don’t always need to sink your teeth into new material. A lot of music fans, music YouTubers, and publications seem to place a lot of emphasis on listening to new stuff, but there’s no pressure. As much as I love new music, movies, and games, I also enjoy diving into stuff from yesteryear. So Jake, now that the summer has come to a close, and we’re moving into fall, let me start off this piece by simply asking you, how have been the last few months?

Honestly, the end of summer going into the fall season has been a bit of a whirlwind for me, especially mentally. I'm not quite sure if it's general burnout, or just one of those times where you're feeling a little down and out, but I feel like I haven't quite been able to take everything in and enjoy the summer as much as I would have liked to. That being said, the start of fall has been off to a better start for the most part and has been a nice reset of sorts, so I'm hoping I can carry that as we get further into the rest of the season and the year as a whole.

Now, as always, one thing that's comforted me through this rough patch has been the various forms of media that we love, whether it be music, movies, TV, games, and so on. I always love doing these things with you because it's a great opportunity to reflect on what particularly grabbed us and has been helping us through something or has been that really exciting thing we can't get enough of. I think to start off, I'll turn it back over to you, what have you been watching/playing/reading lately?

I’m sorry to hear that, man, but seasonal depression seems to be hitting people hard right now, so I can understand that. We’ve all had periods like that, where we just feel burned out in general. I’m glad to hear that the fall is doing you some good, though, and I’m happy that the weather is getting a bit chillier and mellower, versus being 90 degrees. Media, regardless of the type, has always comforted me, too, especially when we get together and do something like this. We can talk about what we’ve been into for the last few months, regardless of what it is, and what medium it’s on.

I’ve been into a lot of stuff, surprisingly, and I’m really excited this time around, because I got some stuff to talk about other than music, mainly some TV shows, movies, and video games. I still got some music to talk about, but only a few new releases, instead it’s a handful of stuff that’s either been new to me or that I’ve been revisiting. I think I’ll start with the new releases, because I only have a few of those, and I really wanted to highlight other stuff this time around. Not too much has come out the last couple of months that I’ve been extremely head over heels for, but the new Fame On Fire, Rain City Drive, The Black Dahlia Murder, and the debut album from a retro-leaning rock band called Brigitte Calls Me Baby have all been new albums that I’ve loved since our last check-in piece. What about you? What kinds of new stuff have you been into?

That new Rain City Drive album is really damn good, huh? That's one I've also been really into; it's one of those albums that kinda sneaks up on you for how good it is and how often you'll be revisiting it. But besides that, I wanna give a shout to the new Trash Boat album, Heaven Can Wait. Trash Boat is a band I've always liked and thought they were solid enough, but this album is the one that really won me over. They went for a grungy meets Deftones sound on this one, and I think it's really cool. Fever 333's new album, Darker White, is another super fun one, while also being very in your face and blunt about what it's trying to say, but in a very good way. And Void of Vision's new one, which you actually recommended to me, has been one I came back to quite a bit. Just really solid metalcore/Octanecore all around.

Oh, yeah, Things Are Different Now is a great album, despite its title being a misnomer, because it’s nothing different at all, ironically enough. It’s still a really solid album, easily the best thing they’ve done, because they honed their sound to be as refined as it can get. I’ve heard of Trash Boat, though, but that may persuade me to check it out! That sounds real interesting, honestly. The new Fever 333 album is really good, too; I wouldn’t say it’s one of my favorite albums of the year, but it’s a huge step up from their last album, although that was five years ago (not counting their last EP from 2022). Void Of Vision’s latest is great, too, and that’s also a big step from their last couple of albums, so I’m happy to recommend you that one! A lot of really good Octanecore has come out, huh? Still on the subject of music, though, what are some older bands / albums you’ve been into lately, or stuff that’s just new to you?

So, there have been two big deep dives I've been undertaking over the last couple months, so I wanted to mainly highlight those! First, Linkin Park really needs no introduction at this point, but after vocalist Chester Bennington tragically passed away in 2017, nobody was quite sure what the future held for the band. Fast-forward to last month, and we finally got that answer in the form of a new vocalist, a massive new tour, and a new album, From Zero, coming out in November. I've been enjoying the two new songs they've put out so far with new vocalist Emily Armstrong (who's from a band called Dead Sara, a pretty solid band, from the bits I've checked out), and I've been having so much fun watching all the footage from the live shows, hearing all these old songs again after a long while. Anyway, this prompted me to revisit Linkin Park's discograhy, more specifically their 2010s work, from A Thousand Suns to their final album with Bennington, One More Light, to see if I would feel differently about any of it now, years removed from their releases and Chester's passing. I have a more in-depth piece on this in the works that I hope to have out by the time From Zero comes out, but for now, I'll just say that it's been a really fascinating journey through these later albums. I'm not a fan of all of it, and in fact I'm still pretty bummed that One More Light was the last thing Chester did with them because I wish I liked it way more than I do, but I reaally do admire them for not ridiing on the cotails of their early 2000s sound and never really making the same album twice. I'm ultimately just happy to have them back, and I can't wait to see how this new era shakes out.

The other main thing I've been getting really into started from randomly scrolling on TikTok, as one does. I came across this account called Emo Social Club that's a podcast about, you guessed it, emo music and the whole subculture/community that surrounds it. The videos I kept getting recommended were the hosts reviewing albums that were going to be played in full at this year's When We Were Young festival (which I believe is happening this weekend as of writing this). I noticed a lot of the albums they were talking about were ones I hadn't heard yet, so I thought it would be fun to check out all of the ones that are new to me! I've gone through quite a few of them so far, and I found some really great albums I'm kinda kicking myself for not listening to sooner. A couple of highlights are Tonight Alive's The Other Side from 2013, which was a really cool pop-punk/pop-rock album that had moments where they kinda do the "heavy pop" thing before it was really a thing thanks to bands like Issues and The Home Team. I also really ended up enjoying The Used's In Love and Death; that album is pure 2000s post-hardcore/emo nostalgia, yet it doesn't feel all that dated or cringy like some of that stuff can feel by today's standards. One of the <most interesting albums of the bunch so far was The Forecast's In The Shadow of Two Gunmen. Think midwest emo with a sprinkle of southern rock and dual vocalists, and you have that album. I dug the hell out of this, and I had literally never heard of this band before. Emery's debut album, The Weak's End, might be my favorite of what I've checked out so far, though. It's the mix of that classic post-hardcore sound with a realy soulful clean vcoalist that hits me, and I'm excited to dive into their other albums at some point.

Turning it back to you, what are some things that you've been getting into that aren't necessarily new releases, but might be new to you?

You know, it’s cool to see Linkin Park after all these years, because they’ve just needed the right vocalist to keep them going, as well as come back at the right time. I’m curious for their new album, but all eyes (and ears) are sure to be on them when it does come out. As for When We Were Young, that’s a really cool rabbit hole to go down, because there are tons of albums in that vein, some of those I’ve never heard. I’ve had a few deep dives within the last couple months, and I’ve written some in-depth pieces on a few of these, but when we did our piece on Yellowcard’s Southern Air, I got into a bunch of 2010s pop-punk albums, including stuff from All Time Low, Broadside, and a bunch more stuff, so that was a fun journey revisiting a lot of that stuff and seeing if it holds up all these years later.

Shortly after that, I got into Green Day a bit for some reason; I listened to Dookie and American Idiot, just to see how I feel about those albums all these years later, but I also got into some of Billie Joe Armstrong’s side projects and I realized that I really like him as an artist, just not necessarily with Green Day, which is weird to say, but I really enjoyed his side projects. This wasn’t much of a deep dive, but I spent a few weeks also listening to the Hamilton soundtrack a lot, and I forgot how much I really enjoyed that soundtrack a lot. I read a bit of the Alexander Hamilton biography that inspired it, too, and it was really fascinating stuff. I never ended up writing about the soundtrack, but that’s something I’d like to do in the near future.

The final deep dive I’ve been taking is the one I’m currently in, where I’ve become enamored with jazz and traditional pop music from the 1940s and 1950s. I’ve also been listening to a few Halloween albums from the 1960s, and that inspired me to get into some artists and albums from around the same time again. I’ve been getting into jazz for the past few years, as well as music that you’d hear in the Fallout games, and despite being 70 years old and over, a lot of this music is very timeless. I’m specifically getting into a bunch of Frank Sinatra, whom I’ve always been a huge fan of, but really have been taking the plunge into his body of work the last few years. I just really love that 1940s and 1950s crooner sound that him and Dean Martin pioneered back in those days.

Enough about that, though, because let’s talk about some other media that we’ve been into, like TV shows and movies, for instance. What kinds of stuff have you been watching lately?

Because I've been having a bit of a down time the last couple months, I've been in the mood for a lot more lighter stuff for the most part. I've been slowly making my way through a rewatch of Community, a show I believe you introduced me to way back when we first met, and I forgot how great even that first season is basically right out the gate. It's been years since I've watched it all the way through, but with the buzz of the long-awaited movie finally gaining traction, it felt like a good time to revisit this. I also made it to the final season of Gotham that I've been watching with a couple friends of mine for over a year now, and that show continues to be a fun ride.It's got this nice blend of being a cop drama but also knowing when to lean into the campy nonsense that comes with some of Batman's villains, so it hits just what I'm looking for, a little more dramatic than a straight comedy, but not too heavy. That being said, I haven't been watching a ton of new stuff, either stuff that's just been released or new to me, and it's been nice to kind of hang back and revisit some old favorites or continue a show I've beeen enjoying a lot, in the case of Gotham. With Halloween season in full swing, though, I do plan on checking out some horror movies and possibly checking out some horror-adjacent shows, like maybe revisiting some particularly creepy episodes of Criminal Minds or starting a show like Fringe or The X-Files. Netflix also just added the 2018 Halloween, so that's one on my list for sure.

But what about you? Anything in particular that you've been watching that's really got its hooks in you?

Community is such a great show! I don’t think I told you, but I rewatched it a couple of years ago myself, and I also finished the rest that I never saw, especially that sixth season on Yahoo. While it wasn’t great, it wasn’t half bad, actually, so I’m excited for a movie. Speaking of Batman, I did watch the new Batman animated show on Prime Video when that dropped in August, and that was a real fun ride, especially if you love the 90s animated series. I haven’t watched a lot, either, but I’ve mainly been into two shows — That 90s Show, which unfortunately got canceled a couple of weeks ago, and Agatha All Along.

The former is a 90s-set sequel of That 70s Show, which is my favorite sitcom of all time, so I’ve been looking forward to it, and it’s a ton of fun. It’s very lighthearted, but it’s also got some bigger themes every now and again, at least without being heavy handed or preachy. The latter, however, is the newest MCU show that picks up where WandaVision left off a few years ago. As of writing this, there are two episodes left, but it’s been a fun and spooky ride. It’s more or less on the campier side of Halloween, which I really like, but it’s an interesting show about the more supernatural side of the MCU, right up there with Doctor Strange and stuff like that.

I haven’t watched a lot of movies lately, though, except for one — Terrifier 3. My wife and I just saw it this past weekend, and this movie has been the talk of the town for the past week, whether it’s for its gruesome and gratuitous violence, or for how well it’s doing as an independent horror movie. I’ve seen the other two as well, and I’m pretty mixed on them, although I’ve also come to look at those movies for what they are — purposely low budget and heavily reliant on practical effects that look like they’re straight out of the 1980s with a fun and terrifying (pun intended) killer that’s become a new horror icon over the last couple of years. They’re not for everyone, especially not for the faint of heart, but they’re impressive, at least. I’m more so mixed on the story, the characters, and its lore, but again, I can look at the movies for what they are, so those things are all secondary to what people really want to see. This new one takes place during Christmastime, and it doesn’t have a lot to do with Christmas, but it’s still a lot of fun (despite some of it does go a little too far with the level of violence it depicts).

I've been hearing a lot about Terrifier recently with the new movie coming out, and I'd like to at least check out the first one for myself ot finally see what the hype is all about, so maybe that's another one to add to the list!

I think the biggest thing for me over the last couple months has been games, though. For starters, after 197 hours, I finally finished Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and that was a really emotional and wild journey with a mindfuck of an ending. The wait for the third and final part of this remake trilogy is gonna be excruciating, but I'm feeling confident that they'll stick the landing. After that, though, I wanna give a particular shoutout to The Plucky Squire, the debut game from a team headed up by former designers on the Pokemon series. It's got this really cool storybook aesthetic and is very inspired by classic 2D adventure games like Zelda, but the neat twist is that you get, well, plucked out of the storybook and into the 3D world, and it's revealed that you're characters in a storybook, in a very meta way. It's one of my favorite games this year easily, and I'm not even finished with it yet. I did also finish The Evil Within 2 just a few days ago, and that was a wild survival horror experience perfect for this time of year. And currently, I'm bouncing between a couple things, mainly my first playthrough of Mass Effect 2 (which I'm enjoying a lot so far) and my replay of Alan Wake 2, my favorite game of last year, to get ready for the DLC that's dropping next week. So all in all, I've been having a great time with games recently, but how about you?

The new Terrifier movie has been the talk of the movie world right now, especially considering the other clown movie that came out didn’t do too hot. I was gonna see that, but after hearing the negative backlash it got, I’m gonna wait until it hits Max to give it a watch. I’d check out the first two Terrifier movies, though, but the second one is where the story really starts (although the first one still is kind of important, for reasons I won’t spoil). I also forgot to mention one other thing I’ve been watching, and that’s the drag competition show Dragula. I’ve loved that show for years now, especially because it’s a spookier alternative to something like Drag Race, but it’s also horror-themed, so it usually comes out around this time each year.

As for video games, it hasn’t been the thing I’ve been most sinking my teeth into the last few months, but I’ve played a couple of games for the last couple months, nonetheless, and I wanted to talk about them, because I really took my time with them and spent a lot of time with them. Those two games are Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and Jedi Survivor. The former has just been on my radar for the longest time after playing the first one in the rebooted franchise, and that was a fun time, especially being able to unleash hell on a bunch of Nazis. The story was fun, and poignant, but nothing beats plowing through Nazis like they’re mince meat.

Jedi Survivor, though, is what I was real excited about, especially after seeing that it was coming to the PlayStation 4, as it’s been a PS5 exclusive for the past year. I love the first one, even if the combat was a bit lacking in spots, and the game didn’t always tell you where to go, so a lot of its puzzles were really confusing. I felt the same way here, but the story is absolutely wonderful, heart wrenching, and genuinely surprising, but the combat is better and more varied this time, as well as being able to customize Cal Kestis is really cool. The game does feel slightly bloated, because after one of the main villain was defeated, I was wondering where we went next, but they cleverly had another villain that didn’t need to really be a villain, but I guess it sort of sets up the next game. Even then, I like that we only explore a few planets, versus quite a lot in the first game, so you get to spend more time in these few places and familiarize yourself there, versus having to adapt to a new place every little while. The game also looks utterly gorgeous throughout; the levels and worlds are massive, and everything just feels so huge and larger than life.

Oh man, I loved both of those games! I haven't played all of The New Colossus, but you nailed it, the feeling of running into a room and just wrecking an entire horde of Nazis is so satisfying, especially when you really get a groove for the flow of combat and unlock some of the stronger weapons and abilitites. And Jedi: Survivor was one of my other favorite games of last year; Cameron Monoghan is really great as Cal Kestis, and with the devs recently announcing that there's gonna be one final game in this series, I'm so excited to see where Cal's journey goes, because this one has some interesting setups for where it could potentially end up.

There is another game I forgot to mention earlier, but I wanted to give it a quick shoutout at least, and that's Resident Evil 6. I've been playing the co-op Resident Evil games with a friend of mine for the last few months, and it's been a great time. RE6 is far from my favorite game in the series, but this is the one where they kinda just saiid "fuck it" and went full-on silly action movie, and it's so ridiculous that you can't help but have a good laugh at it, and it's infinitely more enjoyable with a friend. Having Leon Kennedy do backflips and roundhouse kicking zombies while dual-wielding pistols just never gets old.

The ending of The New Colossus is so satisfying, although I will say that the next game in the series, Youngblood, is kind of a disappointment, despite having some cool ideas. I’ve played some of it, and I kind of like what they’re going for, but at the same time, it just doesn’t hit the same. I’m really excited for the final game in Cal’s journey, especially with how Survivor ended, there’s a lot they can explore. You know, I’ve only played part or Resident Evil 7, where it goes back to its survival horror roots, and I’ve always wanted to dive into those games, but I’ve never been good at survival horror games, although what I played was really cool.

Before we close out this piece, I had an idea to add one final “section,” so to speak, and I wanted to highlight some wild card pieces of media. Are there any podcasts, YouTubers, streamers, or anything like that you’ve been enjoying. Not even just recently, but throughout this whole year. I usually listen to a lot of podcasts and watch a handful of creators, so I was wondering who some of yours have been this year.

Ooh, this is a fun new addition, and I can absolutely highlight a few! First, YouTube channel Internet Today has been in heavy rotation leading up to the election and the surrounding shitshow. I've followed Ricky and Elliot for years across their various shows and channels, and while I haven't watched quite as regularly the last couple years, I came back around pretty hard this year. If you're looking for a news show on YouTube that isn't full of the same tired, corporate nonsense, Internet Today is always funny, always very blunt in calling out bullshit, and always just super entertaining (their Weekly Weird News show is a particular highlight for me). Next, I wanna highlight my favorite gaming podcast/YouTube channel, MinnMax. MinnMax was started by former Game Informer members (RIP GI, they were sadly completely shut down earlier this year by GameStop) after a round of layoffs, and I've been a big fan since. Their flagship show is the weekly podcast, where they cover what's happening in the industry, review games, your farily typical thing for a games podcast. But, they have two other big things that I think really sets them apart for me. The first is a show called New Show Plus, which is where random ideas for new shows are thrown out and voted on by Patreon supporters every week. These shows can range from simple multiplayer sessions with the hosts or veer into the most absurd thing that has very little to do with games at all. A one-off idea also has a shot to become an ongoing series if the community keeps voting for it. One fun series this year that ended up lasting a few weeks was two of the hosts going to a local bar and playing oversized versions of games like chess, Jenga, and scrabble. It's a super fun concept, and you never really know what you're gonna get every week. The other big one is called The Deepest Dive, which MinnMax founder Ben Hanson always introduces as "the best, most thorough discussions about games on the internet." Honestly, I'm hard-pressed to disagree! Think of it like a book club, but for games, where a panel of hosts and the community will play a game in chunks, and then there will be multiple deep dive videos covering those chunks where the community also asks questions and talks about their favorite moments. They did a Deepest Dive on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth this year that ended up totaling a little over 18 hours across five videos. You have an infinite number of spoiler podcasts or deep dive lore videos all over the internet, but I don't think anyone else is having this level of discussion about games quite like this, and the community involvement makes it even better. Finally, I'm a part of so many wonderful communities on Twitch, and have been since 2020 at the height of the pandemic. It's kind of hard to highlight one or even a small handful, so I'm gonna drop some links for a bunch of creators I'm friends with and creators I greatly admire, and you won't be steered wrong by hopping into any of these streams. A recurring theme you'll find in all these places is being fiercly anti-gatekeeping and being loud and passionable about what you love, while also weeding out anyone who tries to disrupt that.

twitch.tv/sagemalloww

twitch.tv/ashiirosee

twitch.tv/lifewithkendal

twitch.tv/kaiielle

twitch.tv/jesscapricorn

twitch.tv/ohlindsey

twitch.tv/clairecurrently

twitch.tv/littleoneyouare

twitch.tv/smoisnow

twitch.tv/alaselizabeth

twitch.tv/marshmllodragon

twitch.tv/quantumbat

twitch.tv/amarisskye

twitch.tv/elliejoypanic

I'm so curious to hear about what creators or podcasts you've been into throughout the year, so fire away!

Oh man, Internet Today is a name I haven’t heard in years, but I used to watch them back about a decade ago! I used to watch them a lot, especially the Weekly Weird News episodes, but I stopped keeping up with after awhile. I think it was because of something I still regularly struggle with — there’s just too much to keep up with, whether it’s music, movies, TV, podcasts, or YouTubers. It’s just way too much, kinda because we have access to everything at our fingertips these days. I do have fond memories of watching them, though, but it’s cool to hear they’re still going! That other podcast / video network sounds really cool, though, especially when creators can offer something new. It’s so easy to make podcasts, stream, or make YouTube videos, because the bar to accessibility is so low, anyone can do it. That doesn’t mean just anyone should, though, so it’s cool to hear there’s something unique out there.

As for myself, I’ve been into a fair bit of both podcasts and YouTubers / video creators, but I’ll highlight a few here, first with some podcasts then some video creators. There are two podcasts I found within the last year that I’ve been a huge fan of: Too Much Information and Kermitment, both of which are pretty niche but a whole lot of fun. The former is basically a trivia podcast, where both hosts will dive into a certain piece of media and talk about every little tidbit of it. The hosts are both really entertaining, as well as both knowledgeable with a lot of pop culture, both having written for People Magazine, and various other music and media publications. They also talk a lot of different stuff, including different kinds of movies, TV shows, and music, versus one or two styles of each. The latter, however, is very niche and specific. Kermitment is a Muppets podcast where each episode is dedicated to a certain Muppets or Muppets-adjacent project, and it’s all in order. The podcast started a few years ago, but in the last few years, they’ve covered about 30 years worth of stuff, so they’re in the late 80s right now, right around at the dark times for the Muppets before Jim Henson passed. Funny thing is, too, this podcast was started by one of the hosts of Sci-Show Tangents (another podcast I like with Hank Green), and another employee of that company, who works on the YouTube channel. The hosts of Dragula, a show I talked about earlier, also have a podcast that they mainly utilize on the off season (but they use the podcast during each season to be a BTS look inside each episode), where they talk about horror of all kinds.

As for YouTubers, I wanted to highlight a few of those as well! Firstly, I wanted to highlight a channel that is pretty well known, but has had a “renaissance” in the last few years, if you will — Smosh. Known for sketch comedy in the early 00s, they’ve had a few eras over the years, and for the last handful of years, they’ve been in a weird spot, especially with new cast members and without founding member Anthony Padilla. Anthony ended up returning a little over a year ago, and even before then, they were riding high with a new found passion and creativity that I’ve been really loving. They got some new cast members, too, and they’re essentially a YouTube SNL now, only they don’t a lot of skits, but they all interact and have a lot of funny moments together. They’re just a fun lighthearted channel that’s gotten me through the last few years. A few other YouTubers I’ve been into for awhile now have been FunkyFrogbait, who are one of the new “commentary YouTubers” that aren’t a straight white guy, and Kaz Rowe, who talks about weird, niche, scandalous things throughout history. There are a handful more, too, but I wanted to specifically highlight a couple of my favorites that I’ve found recently. Same with podcasts, too, because there are a lot, but I wanted to talk about a specific few of them.

Oh man, it's so cool to hear that Smosh is still around and putting out quality stuff! I do remember hearing about Anthony coming back after some time away, but I haven't really kept up with them since, so maybe I should change that! That Muppets podcast also sounds super cool, especially going through the entire history, even stuff more casual fans like myself might not know about. Making a note to check that out as well.

Before we close this out, is there anything in particular you're looking forward to for the rest of this year? For me, it's gonna be the new State Champs album. They're one of my favorite bands in general and in pop-punk, and while they might have a generally consistent sound, they do it so well that you don't mind. I'm also really excited about the new Life Is Strange game, Double Exposure. The main protagonist from the original game, Max Caulfield, is back for this game, and I'm interested in seeing how her story evolves from that original game and how they weave in your choices from that.

Smosh is actually really good now, and they’re at their creative peak, especially having a large cast with a lot more personalities and diverse ideas and backgrounds, but they’re clearly having a lot of fun these days. Kermitment is seriously one of my favorite podcasts lately, because of how deep they go into the Muppets history. They talked a lot about obscure stuff from before The Muppet Show, including a lot of stuff I’ve never heard of, so it’s a really cool history lesson into Jim Henson and all of his work.

Anyhow, I can’t say I’m really looking forward to anything in particular, but I know there are things coming out that I’m excited about, for sure. I wish I had a PS5, because I’d love to play the new Life Is Strange. I’ve played a few others, and they’re a ton of fun, but I hate that a lot of new games are PS5 exclusive. I’m sure that the next couple weeks will have a lot, but it’ll be nice when things slow down, so we can enjoy a lot of what we loved this year, or catch up on stuff we missed. I also can’t wait to listen to some Christmas music, too. As I write this, Dan + Shay just dropped a new Christmas album, and it’s actually pretty good.

That is one good thing about this time of year, for sure, being able to take a step back and kinda chill out and catch up on stuff we may have missed, especially as year-end list season comes around. Which, you bet I'm down to get back together for the big year-end piece again! Last year was a blast, and I can't wait to do it again.

Ooh, we get to do this in another couple months, and I’m looking forward to it, because we can reflect on the whole year, and it’s gonna be a blast. Thanks again for jumping aboard to do this with me, Jake, you know I always appreciate it!

Thanks for having me on board again! These are always so fun to do, and I can't wait to see what the last bit of the year has in store.

[jakeh2987]

Got together with Bradley again to reminisce about one of my favorite albums from one of my favorite bands! This was super fun to work on, and the album is just as special now as it was back then ❤️

Yellowcard - Southern Air (Twelfth Anniversary Retrospective) [Featuring @jakeh2987]

In the summer of 2012, I dove headfirst into the genre of pop-punk. I was familiar with the genre already, having already been a fan of bands like Paramore, Fall Out Boy, and Blink-182, and having heard some stuff from New Found Glory, Man Overboard, and some other random bands, the album that opened the floodgates was 2011’s Under Soil & Dirt by The Story So Far. That album really introduced me to the genre, and I was head over heels for it. I needed something new to listen to, because I was getting bored with metalcore and post-hardcore, but that album opened up a whole new world to me. It came out in 2011, but I think I found it in the summer of 2012, because I remember finding it later.

That summer also happened to have four major pop-punk releases, although they were major to me. All Time Low first dropped Don’t Panic, which was a return to form for the band after going to a major label, but then in the span of two weeks, With The Punches and I Call Fives dropped their debut albums, then Yellowcard dropped Southern Air. I was familiar with them, knowing the title track to 2003’s Ocean Avenue, but that was it. I heard “Always Summer” a few months before the album came out, and I really enjoyed that song, so I made a note to check out the whole thing. Sure enough, Southern Air ended up being one of my favorite albums of the year.

The album turns twelve this year, and I wish I would have done a 10-year retrospective on it a couple of years ago, but better late than never, right? This is an album that means a lot to me, not only for being one of the first pop-punk albums that I got into, but it still holds up all these years later. This record means a lot to me, especially for the sense of nostalgia I get every time I listen to it, but I’m not here to talk about this album alone. I’m bringing along my buddy Jake to talk about this album, as he’s a big Yellowcard fan. I couldn’t imagine talking about it this with anyone else, so to kick things off, what’s your history with Yellowcard, as well as this album?

Firstly, thanks for having me back to do this! I'm always down to talk about Yellowcard; they're the band I credit most with really getting my foot in the door as far as my love of music goes. Ocean Avenue was the very first album I ever bought in the summer of 2006, and I just fell head over heels for it. It was really one of the first times I could call music "mine," so to speak, because up until then, I'd listen to whatever my family was listening to, and that was a lot of 80s hair metal or the boy bands of the 90s and early 2000s. Funnily enough, though, I didn't keep up with Yellowcard, or pop-punk as a whole, until much later in life. My music tastes kind of shifted a bit after I discovered Linkin Park, and eventually I got into a lot of the super big hard rock bands of that era, like Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin. Yellowcard wasn't particularly on my radar for a long time, until one day in 2012. I was in an FYE, just browsing the new releases when I saw there was a new Yellowcard album out that week. I remember thinking "Aw man, I loved Ocean Avenue, I should check this out for kicks!" So, I bought Southern Air that day, and I had no idea that this band was about to change my life again. We'll get into more about what works about this album, both on its own and in terms of Yelllowcard's discography, but man, hearing this thing for the first time hit me like a wave of nostalgia; six years afrer I discovered Ocean Avenue, it was like I was catching up with an old friend, and we picked up right where we left off.

You’re absolutely welcome, man! I’m glad to have you aboard for this, because I know you’re a huge fan of Yellowcard, especially being the band that got you into music. I can completely relate with having music that feels like “yours,” and that’s what Fall Out Boy’s Infinity On High was that album for me (despite listening to a few other albums before then, but that’s the one that stuck). Southern Air came out at the right time for me, because I was just getting into the genre throughout that summer, and after hearing a lot about them, I figured I’d check it out, but I didn’t realize how important that album would end up being, especially all of these years later. It’s always awesome when bands can make you feel like you’re catching up with an old friend, especially after them coming back after so long, whether you haven’t listened to them in so long, or they hadn’t released an album in years. That’s how I felt when Fall Out Boy finally came back last year, but I digress. Before we talk about this album, I think we need some context as to where the band was at the time, because there was a lot going on with them for the last few years before this thing. I listened to this as a stand-alone album, but what was the context surrounding this album and what makes it so important in their discography?

So, after they put out Ocean Avenue, and that album catipulted them into siccess, they put out two more albums, 2006's Lights and Sounds and 2007's Paper Walls. Both of those albums I I feel are very good or even great (Paper Walls in particular I think is actually pretty underrated), but they didn't do as well sales-wise or in terms of fan enthusiasm as Ocean Avenue did, and that, combined with the members wanting to take a break for various life reasons, led to a hiatus in 2008. That would last until 2010, and then they would release their comeback album, When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes. I often think because Southern Air is so beloved and turned out so well, this album gets overlooked, but thinking about it for this piece, it almost feels like a beta test for what would come next. When You're Through Thinking really reignited the love for Yellowcard both for the members themselves and for the fanbase, and they had such a great time making that album, it ended up being a pretty quick turnaround to get to Southern Air in 2012. And boy did it pay off for them; Southern Air ended up debuting in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, their highest charting album since Lights and Sounds in 2006, and the fanbase was universally happy and loving the album. I think outside of Ocean Avenue, many fans would consider Southern Air to be the best thing they've ever done, and honestly, I can't really argue against that. I think you said this when we first started talking about doing this, but it really is a lightning-in-a-bottle type of album. Let's get into why this thing works as well as it does.

Yeah, Southern Air is one of those “lightning in a bottle” kind of albums where everything fits so perfectly into place, and there’s no way that it could ever be replicated. Every moving part came together in such a perfect way to make something that is truly one of a kind, and Southern Air is just one of those albums for me. Even without any context going into this, you can hear a renewed sense of energy and vigor that the band seemingly hadn’t had in so long. There’s so much energy here, minus for what I argue to be the emotional crux of the album (and one of the most heart wrenching and unique pop-punk songs I’ve ever heard, even 12 years later), but you can tell they were having a blast working on this, and aside from When You’re Through Thinking, this truly feels like a return to form, so to speak. This isn’t just one of my favorite albums of 2012, but it’s one of my favorite pop-punk albums, period. A lot of the genre is youthful in tone, and it’s not meant to be so timeless, but I’ve found that this album has only aged better with time, both for its music and its lyricism. It just keeps getting better after every year. If anything, this album retains the youthful spirit of their earlier work, but there’s a sense of maturity and growing up that lingers throughout it. I was a year out of high school when this album came out, and I didn’t have any idea what I was doing with my life, but this album felt so relatable to me, because one of its biggest themes is getting older and feeling lost, and that’s a theme I still relate to all these years later. What do you think, though? What makes this album work so well for you?

You know, I think you really hit the nail on the head when you talked about the youthful energy mixed with this almost world-weary maturity that makes Southern Air work so well and why it's held up as well as it has. The themes of growing up yet feeling uncertain of where life is going or being afraid to take that next step I think is something almost anyone can relate to, especially at our age. So often, there's this pressure to have it all figured out by the time you hit your 30s, and as someone who turns 32 in December, this album really cuts to the heart of that. "Here I Am Alive" is the song that really drives this home for me; it's a song about being unsure of what's ahead, but ultimately being okay with that and being ready to take that on. You alluded to it earlier, but we also gotta talk about the song "Ten," because man, what a gut-punch this one was when I first heard it, and even still now. The song was written about vocalist Ryan Key's then-girlfriend suffering a tragic miscarriage, and when I was listening to the album again for this, I had this thought about this song that I hadn't really thought of before; it's an incredibly emotional song on its own, but within the context of the album, it's a sort of flip on its themes, talking about what could have been and being heartbroken that he'll never get to experience those things with his unborn child.

But even outside of all that, the band as a whole is just in top form here. Southern Air was actually the last album (not counting the acoustic version of Ocean Avenue they would release a year later to celebrate its 10th anniversary) featuring their longtime drummer Longineu Parsons III, and you can tell he's having an absolute blast on this thing. There are so many cool little drum fills he does on this album that always get me hyped when I hear them. The band's secret weapon, violinist Sean Mackin, also has plenty of moments to shine; that solo he has on "Always Summer" really brings that song home. And vocalist Ryan Key had never sounded better than this to that point. I always really liked Key as a vocalist, but here, he's still got that youthful energy in his delivery, but he'd also really improved as a vocalist, and he really sells the emotions in these lyrics, especially on the aforementioned "Ten."

Ryan Key is certainly an integral part on why this album works, and I already mentioned the lyrics a bit, as well as the themes of growing up, getting older, and wondering where you’re going and where your life could be headed, but “Ten” is what I referred to as the emotional crux of the album, especially for what you said about the song flipping those themes about an unborn child and what he would be missing out on by not being born into this world. Miscarriages are a very taboo topic already, and certainly not spoken of in the pop-punk scene, but it brings a lot of the themes of the album together. Key as a vocalist is a big part of why this album works as well as it does, because he’s got such an energetic and invigorating delivery that sucks you into his woes and revelry. His delivery is youthful, but world weary, so it has that nice balance between jaded and naive.

The rest of the band is killer, too, and I think this album works so well for me, personally, because it’s the perfect distillation of their sound, but a modernized and mature version of it, albeit at the time, anyway. I also think they made this album knowing full well they would never be a full-fledged pop-punk band, and it might seem to be a farewell to their old sound, at least until their latest EP from 2023. Even then, that EP certainly does not try to top their classic material, let alone this album. Their last couple albums before their hiatus were some of their more adventurous albums, and they dove into stuff that they hadn’t done before, so this feels like a farewell to their youth, both literally and metaphorically.

Before we close this out, I have one final question to ask, and we can discuss a bit — I know you said was a fan favorite, but where do you rank this among their body of work, let alone would this be a good album to recommend someone new to th band? Personally, this is my favorite Yellowcard album, both for its nostalgia and musicianship. Ocean Avenue is a close second, but I don’t have that nostalgia for it the way I do with this one. I also would say this album is perfect for new fans, because of its immediate sound, and its very mature and adult themes.

It's interesting, because while I think I'll always put Ocean Avenue above anything else because it was *the* album for me, I can't really argue against Southern Air being their magnum opus. It has all the best parts of what makes this band so special, and it's packaged in a modern coat of paint that, like you said, is a pretty good way for someone to get into them. Not to discredit their other work, either, but I do think Suothern Air and Ocean Avenue are at the top, and then it's kind of the rest of their discography. But you know, it's gotta be pretty damn cool to know you've made two classic albums that have stood and will continue to stand the test of time, in two different eras of your career, no less! I will say, though, for this album especially, I think When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes is an important album in that it was a launching pad for what we'd get with Southern Air, and without that initial comeback, we're not sitting here today talking about this album. And for their later mateial, I'm more mixed on Lift A Sail, and their self-titled album is probably not gonna have quite the same impact now that it's not their final release, but they're all very soldi in their own ways and worth a listen. I'm hoping the Childhood Eyes EP ends up being much like When You're Through Thinking, in that it's a great first step for what will come next.

Ocean Avenue is always going to be their biggest album, just for how important it was to the 00s pop-punk scene, but Southern Air has that maturity that Ocean Avenue doesn’t. It doesn’t make that album bad, by any means, but Southern Air hit me at the right time. That’s the best way to go out talking about this album, though — Yellowcard have one hell of a legacy. They dropped two classic albums in a ten-year period, as well as many other albums people love, and how bands can say they have two, let alone one, classic albums under their belt? I’m excited for their future, especially if their future material is anything like Childhood Eyes. That’s a great stepping stone, especially in the way that When You’re Through Thinking was. It’s good they’re back, because the pop-punk scene was missing one of its best bands, even if their later stuff doesn’t quite have the same critical appeal as their earlier stuff. As always, though, it was a real pleasure talking with you about an album we love! There’s never any time I wouldn’t want to talk about this album.

Thank you again for having me! This has been such a great time, revisiting this album in general and thinking about it and talking about it like this. I can't wait to see what we get up to next!

[jakeh2987]

Got together with @thisaintascenereviews again to chat about the things we've been loving throughout the first part of the year, and it was a blast!

Our Favorites Of The Year (So Far), Part One: April 2024

By Bradley Christensen & @jakeh2987

At the end of every year, I’m always amazed when peoples’ yearend lists come out, because it takes me awhile to fathom that it’s really the end of another year. Aside from Christmas, which is what most people associate with that time of year, I love “list season.” Publications of all kinds put out their yearend lists, and I just love seeing what people have been into the entire year. It feels like yesterday I was talking about my favorite media from the entire year, so I thought I’d “check-in” in the beginning, middle, and (obviously) the end of the year. I’m not doing this alone, however, because I thought I’d bring along my buddy Jake. We worked together on a yearend piece last year, too, and I thought it would be fun to work on something like this again, at least checking in periodically with each other and seeing what we’ve been into throughout the year, as well as how the year’s been going when it comes to media of all kinds. With that said, it’s good to have you back, Jake! It feels like deja vu, because it feels like we just did this, but I digress, how’s this year been treating you so far, Jake? How do you think this year has been in comparison to last year?

First of all, thank you for having me back to do this! I had a blast working on our year-end wrap up last year, so I jumped at the chance to do something similar. To answer your question, though, I feel like this year has been really stacked in terms of new releases in not only music, but a lot of different forms of media. Last year was incredible, for sure, but I feel like a lot of it was backloaded in the second half of 2023. This year, on the other hand, I felt like there’s been at least one or two new things to be excited about every week really since the start of the year, but especially so in the last couple of months. I had a look at my top 10 albums, and I think almost all of them have come out after the first week of March, which has been great. But, we’ll get to that later. For now, though, I say we take a look back at the broader picture for a second! Last year, we talk about how we often found ourselves falling back into old comforts, whether that be favorite artists, that TV show you’ve binged far too many times before, and so on. For the first bit of this year, I kinda feel like I’ve been a lot more open to discovering new things and stepping outside of my comfort zone, so I’m curious, how does it feel for you?

Last year definitely had a theme of listening to what I call “ol’ reliable” types of media. A lot of my favorite pieces of media were from old favorites, whether I was revisiting them again for the first time in awhile, or old favorites releasing new albums, movies, or shows that I could easily get into and gave me a nice sense of nostalgia. I would say that this year, at least so far, is a mixture of both being adventurous and discovering some new things and still revisiting some of those same “comfort foods,” so to speak. Looking at the big picture of how media has gone this year, it’s certainly been steady since March with at least one album per week that I’m listening to (almost my whole top ten is from the last couple of months as well), and we’ve been getting a steady stream of movies and shows that are worth watching and talking about. Speaking of which, let’s start with movies and TV, what have you been watching this year?

Okay, this is where I get to gush about the new Fallout show that just premiered on Amazon Prime Video a couple weeks ago. I’m not super familiar with the games, having only put a few hours into Fallout 4 way back in 2015, but when the first trailer for this show dropped, I knew I was gonna be in for this. I’m a sucker for a sci-fi/post apocalypse setting, and from what I do know from the games, there was gonna be a blend of dark humor/satire along with the high-stakes drama. I ended up watching the whole season in about a week, and I really loved it. The creative team behind the show did about the best thing you could do for a video game adaptation; it’s set within the universe and continuity of the games, but it’s a new story with new characters, so they were able to tell their own story while still nailing that Fallout vibe. Also, come on, Walton Goggins playing a post-apocalyptic cowboy bounty hunter, how can you not love that? But for real, this show was a blast, and I’m happy it’s already been renewed for a second season, because I can see this show being a great time for many years to come.

Aside from that, though, I did see the Mean Girls musical movie from earlier this year, and while I don’t think it was all that great (and I don’t necessarily love the original, either), it’s pretty clear why Renee Rapp is a rising star, she was great in it and can definitely sing. I’ve also been making my way through a super casual Criminal Minds rewatch, it’s been a long while since I’ve watched a lot of the early stuff, so I like having it on in the background while I do other things, but I still love this show a lot. How about you, though?

When it comes to TV and movies, I haven’t watched as much stuff as I’ve listened to music, but I’ve got a few things I’ve been watching. The second half of the second season of Invincible, also on Prime Video, premiered last month, and that was a lot of fun, especially after loving the first season a few years back. Animation has been on a roll this year, between that and X-Men ‘97, which has been a show that I’ve been eagerly watching every Wednesday. That show’s been an absolute blast, and despite being rooted in a show from the past, it doesn’t let the nostalgia overtake the show itself. I haven’t really been watching a lot of movies this year, surprisingly enough, but I need to catch up. I need to watch Fallout, though; I love dystopia and post-apocalyptic universes, so I need to sit down and watch that front to back. What about video games? I got a couple that I’ve played this year, not necessarily new but new to me; and that’s been a whole lot of fun.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth came out at the end of February (on the leap day, no less!), and I've been playing it basically non-stop since then. Rebirth is the second part of a trilogy of games that are remaking/reimagining the original Final Fantasy 7 from back in 1997, greatly expanding upon and making tweaks to various things that were in the original. This is also a game that adopts more of an open-ended structure, featuring several pretty big zones filled with a ton to do. As of writing this, I've put about 100 hours into it, and I'm just over 60% of the way through it. This is a game that''s so incredibly easy to get lost and immersed in for hours, and I think that comes down to three things. Firstly, your main party of characters is so enjoyable to be around; it really hammers home that feeling of being on a grand adventure with your friends, and even when you're doing a seemingly mundane open world activity, you still get little interactions with the characters that makes it worth it. Another factor for me is the combat. I said after the first part came out in 2020 that it had maybe my favorite combat in an RPG, I really loved the seamless blend of real time action and strategy with the ATB system. Rebirth's combat is essentially more of that, but the improvements and enhancements make this combat sing in a way that very few games ever have for me. Swapping between party members, using the new synergy abilities, and popping ATB abilities feels so seamless and flows super well. It's just a blast to play. Finally, I wanna give a shoutout to the minigames. I won't give all of them away, but there are so many different minigames to play, and this is where Rebirth gets to really lean into its silliness more often than not. Your main story can often be very dramatic and emotional, so I appreciate that these side activities are a way to provide a tonal balance and gameplay pacing. And aside from maybe one or two I admittedly wasn't a huge fan of, all of them were really fun to play (shoutout Queen's Blood in particular, I would buy a standalone version of that in a heartbeat). Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the music. It's incredible, and even when you're walking around in the open areas, you get hit with yet another really cool music piece, and that's before you even get to the big set pieces or boss fights, which also rule. I could just gush about this thing forever, really, but I'll top this off by saying it's been a really special experience and I'm so excited to see where it ends up. How about you, though? Have you been playing anything in particular?

Man, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sounds great! I always love when a piece of media, whether it’s a game, movie, or album, can really suck you into its story or sound. I can’t say I’ve played any new games, but I got a couple things I’ve been playing so far this year. I spent the last few months playing Mafia III, especially after seeing it was on sale for the first time in awhile, and I absolutely love the first two games. Now those are games that you can get lost in, especially its story, world, and atmosphere, but I’d say the third in this trilogy is the best. Instead of taking place the 1930s or 1940s, like the first two games, the third one takes place in the 1960s, let alone in a New Orleans-type of city with different “districts” that are composed of different kinds of people. This game also tackles issues like racism and PTSD, especially where the main character is Black and a Vietnam veteran. It’s got some hard hitting and still relevant themes, despite coming out in 2016, but it’s still relevant today. The game does have a couple downsides, such as the combat and side missions between story missions being repetitive (despite still a lot of fun), but it’s the story, characters, and the world itself that really draws you in. The music is also a big part of this game, as it features a lot of 50s and 60s blues, rock, soul, pop, and lots of different songs that you can listen to on any car’s radio, and the songs really bring everything to life. It’s a wonderful game, and it’s the best of the three, hands down.

As for the other game, thanks to the new Fallout show coming out, I decided to download Fallout 4 on the PlayStation Store, because it was only $4.99, and I’ve been playing it for a few days now! It’s a lot of fun, despite how I’m still getting used to its world and mechanics. I’ve always been curious about Fallout’s story and lore, but never knew where to start. There’s so many games and lore to sink your teeth into, but that’s what makes the show so good — it’s its own story, like you said, so you don’t need to know everything about the games. The show eases you into it, but if you enjoy post-apocalyptic stories with retro futuristism aesthetics, along with a killer soundtrack (that I enjoy, thanks to my niche taste of 30s, 40s, and 50s music), you should get really into it. The game itself is cool, too, and it also eases you into the story, especially if this is your first go-around. I’m excited to play more, since I haven’t had anything I’ve really dedicated my time to after finishing Mafia III.

With all of that said, let’s get to our main event — 2024 in music. We discussed this a bit earlier, at least our overall first impressions, but this year has been off to the races when it comes to new music. I swear that almost every week since the start of the year, there’s been something new to listen to, but a lot of my favorite albums this year have been from March and April. Let’s not beat around the bush anymore, though. What are your favorites of the year so far? Hell, what are some albums that have been resonating with you this year? They don’t even need to be new, but stuff that you’ve found that you’ve just been into this year, regardless of when it came out.

Both Mafia III and Fallout 4 are games I wanna revisit sometimes, for a lot of the reasons you've said. I do remember Mafia III getting a bit of criticism for its repettitive open world structure and missions, but I loved what I played of it for the setting and characters and how it tackled heavier subject matters in a game like this. And I did redownload Fallout 4 as well, I played a few hours of it when it first released in 2015, but the show has made me wanna give it another go, though at this point I'll probably end up starting a new save.

Anyways, yes, let's get to the main event, our favorite music! I feel like since we both have the same number one, at least I think we do, let's save that for last, but for now, I'm gonna highlight a few from my top 10, in no real order (at least not for the purposes of this piece, I do have a proper list for myself). First, an interesting thing I noticed about my list is how a few of these are from bands/artists you recommended to it. Cory Wells' Harbouring the Hurt I Cause is a really good acoustic/emo album that I had never heard of before you suggested it, and that new Fluorescents album that just dropped, Scream It At Me! gives me such great mid/late 2000s neon pop-punk/pop-rock vibes but with a modern polish to it. You also turned me back on to Neck Deep; their self-titled album is just a really damn solid pop-punk album from a band I admittedly kinda wrote off in recent years.

Secondly, I wanna talk about two final releases from two of my favorite bands, but they're final releases for very different reasons. Sum 41 are pop-punk legends at this point, and sometime last year, they announced that after their new album and some extensive touring, they were calling it quits. It's always nice that when a band does break up, they do so on their own terms and while going out on top. I really had a lot of fun with their final (double) album Heaven x Hell, it felt like a love letter to the band and everything they do well, and I'm happy they were able to go out with that. On the other hand, though, we have Too Close to Touch's For Keeps, and this one is very bittersweet. Vocalist Keaton Pierce passed away unexpectedly in March 2022, and many fans like myself weren't sure we were ever gonna hear from the band again. So, it was a very welcome surprise when they announced a final collection of songs, but it was also a little bittersweet that they decided to call it quits, although it was for a very understandable reason. For Keeps, I think, turned out as well as it could have, and is a very solid sendoff for a vocalist and a band who were so close to taking that next step.

Outside of this year, I did wanna highlight Linkin Park's recently-released greatest hits album, called Papercuts. It's a very nice little collection of songs from their career, and it's been a lot of fun revisiting my first favorite band.

Okay, now I'm gonna throw it back to you, what's some music that you've really been resonating with so far this year?

Yeah, Mafia III got some criticism for the repetitive open world structure and the missions being pretty much copy and paste, such as killing certain enforcers, and interrogating informants, but it’s still a lot of fun every time you get to unleash carnage on an unsuspecting group of bad guys (or are they, because this game does tackle how the main character might not be as good as he thinks he is, and that’s a real interesting idea). I got through a bit of Fallout 4 already, though, and despite a rather annoying combat system that I still need to master, I enjoy it a lot. It’s pretty cool, especially with its story and the lore that the game has already built up for itself.

As for the main event, we can save that specific album for later, but I have a feeling I know what it is, too, and it’s a doozy, that’s for sure. I figured we could highlight stuff from our top tens, really in no particular order, but that’s really neat! I always love recommending stuff, but if I hear something that I think you’d like, I always throw it your way, even if it’s not something I’m as into. Anyhow, my top ten is mainly from bands and artists I’ve already been a fan of, and with the exception of Fluorescents’ debut, Scream It At Me, it’s all stuff that I’ve both heard of but haven’t listened to in awhile. A few of my favorites, in no particular order as well, are Neck Deep’s self-titled and Fluorescents’ Scream It At Me, especially for really wanting some catchy pop-punk at this time of year. Neck Deep’s new one came out in the beginning of the year, but it just hits differently now, and it’s really grown on me. I’ve also been enjoying a handful of metalcore albums, including two that just came out last week. The new Ghost Inside and SeeYouSpaceCowboy albums, respectively titled Searching For Solace and Coup De Grace, are a couple of metalcore albums that really hit what I’ve been looking for, especially really catchy and hard hitting stuff. The new Justin Timberlake album, Everything I Thought It Was, is another album that I’ve been playing a lot this year, and it’s a solid little comeback album for him.

A couple of albums on my list, too, aren’t from bands who released their last albums, although those two albums you mentioned were pretty good, but they’re from artists I never expected to really love a new album from. Thrice frontman Dustin Kensrue dropped a country album, entitled Desert Dreaming, and it’s a wonderful throwback country album that sounds like it came out of the 1960s and 1970s. Augustana, and indie-pop / folk-pop band, also dropped their first album in a decade, called Something Beautiful, and it really hit me, especially for being so catchy. Lil Dicky also dropped a new album this year, his first in almost a decade and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy that as much as I did. I also binged his show, Dave, that has been on for the last few years and it’s a pretty funny show, and I forgot to mention that earlier, but the album, Penith, is supposed to be the “soundtrack” to the show.

Now when it comes to music this year that I’ve been that isn’t new, I got a couple of things, such as getting into the last Hot Mulligan albums after seeing them live with Fall Out Boy a couple months back. I also have spent some time with the last couple of James And The Shame records. That’s the brainchild of Rhett McLaughlin, most famously known from YouTube duo Rhett & Link, but it’s a retro-style country project that has a lot of themes about religion and his overall deconstruction from the church, and it’s very interesting stuff. I’d like to check out that Linkin Park greatest hits, though; they’re a band I feel like hits better with their greatest hits, although their first two albums are really cool still.

There is one album that we haven’t talked about yet that we’ve alluded to, because it’s both our current favorite album this year, so would you like to introduce it?

You know, this is actually kind of a funny full cirlce thing, because Bayside was another band you originally introduced me to, I wanna say about a decade ago, around the time Cult was coming out. I really enjoyed that album, but their next album, 2016''s Vacancy, was what really won me over and made me a huge fan of theirs. So, naturally, you could say that their new album, There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, being my number one album of the year so far is a bit of a no-brainer, but I really do think this is one of Bayside's best albums, and it really showcases the band at their peak and what they do best, whether it be guitarist Jack O'Shea really letting it rip with some killer guitar parts and solos, Anthony Raneri's ability to paint a picture and tell a story with his lyrics, or the band's penchant for memorable hooks. It's all there in full force on this album, but what I will say, is that if you really think about it, it's not really all that different than what they've been doing. So, I wanna turn it back to you and ask, what was it about thsi album in particular that really clicked and led it to also being your favorite album so far this year?

Bayside is a band that I’ve got a lot of nostalgia for, because I found them on a 2007 Alternative Press compilation. It was an acoustic version of “Dear Your Holiness,” and I really loved it, I picked up 2007’s The Walking Wounded and immediately fell in love with it. It’s still one of my favorite albums today, especially for its great hooks, awesome guitarwork that was really heavy for a pop-punk album, and very poignant lyrics that still hold up today. I have enjoyed their subsequent records, but Bayside ended up becoming a band whose albums all sound the same to me.

Despite how good they are, especially 2016’s Vacancy, you know what you’re getting with an album from them, which can be a good or bad thing, depending on where you stand with them. Aside from The Walking Wounded, nothing else they’ve done since has really blown me away as much as that album. I was somewhat eagerly awaiting There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive, especially because it’s been five years since their last album came out, but what really surprised me was how this album feels oddly refreshing compared to their last couple. Not that they were bad, or even bland, but this album reminds me a lot of The Walking Wounded.

Like you said, this album is a classic Bayside album on the surface, but they prove that they can tweak their formula a bit and make it really interesting. This album is both the heaviest and catchiest I’ve heard Bayside in a long time; their hooks are sticky sweet this time around, but their guitar riffs are some of the thrashiest and most heavy metal-ish that I’ve heard from them. Raneri’s lyrics are also some of the best I’ve heard in awhile, too, and a lot of this album gets lodged in my head for the best reasons. I bet it was a shock to you, especially as someone that hasn’t been crazy about their last few albums, that I was over the moon for this album when it came out, huh?

I was definitely pleasantly surprised when you said you were loving this album as much as you do, but at the same time, especially after hearing you talk about it more, I do kinda get why this one maybe hooked you more than they have the past few albums. Sometimes all it takes is some tweaks/refreshes to the formula, and sometimes, something will just hit you in the right place at the right time, even if maybe it normally wouldn't as much otherwise. But, I love that we both have this at number one; thinking back on years past, I think this has only happened a handful of times, most likely with Fall Out Boy, since they're another band we both love.

It's really hard to believe we're already a quarter of the way through this year already, isn't it? I'm glad we got together to do this again, though, it's been a blast looking back on all of it so far, and I really can't wait for what's still to come.

I really was surprised to love this new album as much as I did, but you’re right, sometimes all it takes is a tweak to the formula to really hit you at the right time. I think by having a catchier and heavier sound, the album was able to hit me harder because it reminded me of when I first listened to them all those years ago. It just hits in the right way, but I truly love it. Not many albums this year have really hit me in that way, but this record is their best in a long time. It’s really hard to believe we’re almost a quarter done, though, so much good stuff has come out and so much is going to come out in the next eight months. It’s been an absolute blast doing this with you again, but before we close this out, what are some albums you’re looking forward to, whether they have a confirmed release date or not?

Just today, as we're writing this, The Home Team announced their third album, called The Crucible of Life, is coming out on July 12th, and I know that album is gonna be amazing. They're really about to be the next big thing, and I can't wiat. The other big one for me is The Early November, whose self-titled album is coming out June 14th. They're a band sorta like Bayside, in that they have a pretty storied legacy in the scene and have still been at it, putting out great music for over 20 years now.

Got anything on your radar coming up?

No way, they finally announced their new album? I hadn’t seen it yet, so that’s awesome. I can’t wait for that, so that’s easily a most anticipated. I’d say that off the top of my head, the upcoming Knocked Loose is my most anticipated, and that comes in a couple weeks on May 10th. Those guys are currently one of the biggest heavy bands in the scene, and their last album was easily my favorite of 2019, so I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. It’s gonna be a good rest of the year, for sure, and I can’t wait to do this again with you. I hopefully plan on doing this again here in another three or four months, and then at the end of the year, but it’s been a lot of fun being able to work on another one of these pieces with you, so thanks for being able to indulge me on what we’ve been into this year so far!

Yeah, this has been so much fun, so thank you for having me! I'm looking forward to meeting up for this again, as I'm sure we'll have plenty more to talk about.

[jakeh2987]

The Record Exchange: Episode 1

One of my favorite things to do, especially with friends, is talk about music. We all have them, right? Well, friends, or friends that love music. You’re either that friend, or you know someone that is that friend. I’m that friend, for sure. I love music, and have for the last couple decades, and throughout that time, my knowledge within music has grown considerably, but so has my curiosity about new music. I love discovering new music, regardless of what it is, and one of the best things is when you find another person who’s also a huge music fan, let alone someone that enjoys a lot of the same stuff you do. It’s even better when you have something to work off of, versus just agreeing or disagreeing. What good would conversation about music be if you didn’t have anything to talk about, or you just agreed with each other. There’s also something to be said about enjoying the same kind of music as someone, but also being able to debate and have a conversation, and not completely agree or fanboy about everything. Hell, it’s great when you can recommend music to someone that may or may not be out of their comfort zone, and they check it out. Whether they like it or not is a different story (and it’s okay if they don’t), but a lot of people don’t listen to or care about stuff that’s recommended to them. That’s where my buddy @jakeh2987 comes in, however; we’ve been friends for over a decade now, and in that time, we’ve introduced each other to a lot of music. Some of it we’ve liked, and some of it we haven’t, but that’s okay. In that time, we have talked about a lot of the music we’ve recommended to each other, and I had the idea recently to make that into a series. At least a periodic show, anyway, so welcome to The Record Exchange, in which we pick an album, regardless of genre or artist, and we have each other listen to them and then we talk about it.

For the inaugural episode, we’re going to talk about metalcore, well, sort of. Metalcore is a genre that I know very well, as I’ve been a fan for years, but the genre has been doing a lot of cool stuff lately (at least within the last few years). For every band that wants to stay the same, and wants to make the same generic albums, there are bands who are moving the genre forward, and today we wanted to talk about a couple of those. It all started because we were talking about the band Issues, and how they released a new song before their final shows, and we talked about how Issues was a band that was very ahead of their time, and in some degree, they helped to usher in the new wave of bands who bring new perspectives and ideas to the genre. In their case, they brought funk, R&B, and pop music to metalcore. Because of that, we talked about other bands that have been doing similar things, at least bringing new kinds of music into metalcore, as well as hard-rock, because some of these bands can qualify as both metalcore and hard-rock, depending on who you talk to. Rock music, as a whole, is in a state of flux, because it doesn’t know what it wants to do or what it wants to do, but there are a few bands moving the genre forward, and two of those bands we’ll be talking about today, as well as what they mean for the genre and what the future of the genre could be. Since Jake is the guest here, let’s start with the album that I recommended he listen to.

Bring Me The Horizon- Post-Human: Survival Horror

Ever since I first heard Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory at some point in middle school, I’ve been a pretty big fan of the hard-rock/alternative metal scene. Bands such as Three Days Grace (at least, before Adam Gontier left the band), Breaking Benjamin, and Chevelle, to name a few examples, shaped what I like to call the first “phase” of my music tastes, and I still enjoy a lot of that music today. But, if I’m being honest, while a lot of them are still kicking around, it’s been a really long time since I listened to something from those bands and came away really blown away or impacted in a way beyond “Hey, that was pretty good!” As I was writing this, I decided to sit down and revisit some of the most recent releases from the bands of that era, and the main recurring theme I kept running into was that they sounded exactly the same way they did 20 years ago when this sound was in its prime. To put this into perspective, put Three Days Grace’s One-X from 2006, an album that I still love a lot, next to Saint Asonia (Adam Gontier’s current band) and their most recent album from 2019, and Gontier’s basically doing the same thing he’s been doing for his entire career. For a lot of artists, that’s totally okay! You can get away with sticking to what you do best, and even in Gontier’s case, I’m not expecting him to be an especially progressive artist in terms of sound, but I feel like this case is a perfect microcosm of the whole genre; it’s just gotten safe and predictable, and I haven’t truly fell in love with an album from that scene in going on 10 years now.

In comes Bring Me The Horizon, undoubtedly one of the biggest bands in the world right now, and arguably one of the most important. When Bradley recommended their most recent album/EP (it’s not entirely clear what it’s officially classified as, nor does it ultimately matter), Post-Human: Survival Horror, for our first “episode” of this new recurring series we’re trying out, I was really excited. BMTH was a band I was always fascinated by from afar, but ultimately kinda brushed off. However, I have been taking a little more notice of them recently as they’ve dropped singles for their upcoming second part of this Post-Human project, called Next Gen. Bring Me started out as a primarily deathcore band, but other the years, they’ve shifted into more of a metalcore band, and then starting with 2013’s Sempiternal, but really going all in on it with 2015’s That’s The Spirit, they really embraced a more accessible and catchy alt metal/hard-rock sound. This was an interesting evolution for them, because while it might seem predictable for a metalcore band to venture into more of a standard rock sound now, they were one of the first in the scene to do it and have any real success with it. After that came Amo, which is a bit more of a divisive album, but one that really solidified Bring Me as a band who were willing to throw genre conventions out the window and incorporate whatever other genres they wanted into their sound, while also still sounding like them. And that’s what Post-Human: Survival Horror does really well; it’s an album that both feels all over the place in terms of sounds and influences, but is still very rooted in the band’s hard-rock/alternative metal style they’ve been perfecting over the decade since Sempiternal released. And for me, coming up in the hard-rock scene but feeling rather disillusioned with it as of late, Bring Me The Horizon has been such a breath of fresh air. I love that this album can have these rather heavier moments followed by parts that wouldn’t feel out of place in a modern pop song, sometimes within the same song. The song “Ludens” I think is a perfect showcase of this album and what Bring Me is all about, it’s a blend of pop and hard-rock and even has a really cool breakdown, but it all works. And it’s just exciting me as a fan of the genre to see a band really experiment and do new things and not really care about sounding exactly like radio rock did in 2006. Not to mention, where else are you gonna get Babymetal and Yungblud on the same album as guest features?

I’m so happy Bradley recommended this album to me, especially as we’re on the heels of the next step in this journey for the band. All the singles they’ve been dropping over the last year have been really cool, so Next Gen has the potential to be even better.

If there is one band that’s really moving rock and metal forward, it’s Bring Me The Horizon. As Jake said, they’re a breath of fresh air, because of how they’re taking multiple sounds from multiple genres and putting them into rock and metalcore. A lot of bands in this vein today want to sound like they have for the past 20 years, and while nostalgia sells, progression is also important. I’ve been a fan of BMTH for years, even in their earliest incarnation as a deathcore band, but their change as a band has given me mixed reactions; I used to not be crazy about their change in sound, but I’ve really grown to love it, especially 2019’s Amo, where they took electronic and pop music and made it their own. Other bands have been popping up, too, and it’s very refreshing to see a lot of these bands coming out of the woodwork.

The Home Team - Slow Bloom

One such band is The Home Team, and their second album, Slow Bloom. This is the record that Jake recommended to me, and I’ve surprisingly heard of this band before. I listened to Slow Bloom a couple of years ago after hearing about them through seeing their videos on TikTok, and I got really excited about them, because they were a really unique band. This band takes pop-punk, djent, and R&B but makes it their own. Slow Bloom is an album with an ironic title, because this album isn’t slow with how much time it takes to bloom. Hell, these guys have one of the most fresh and unique sounds I’ve heard in awhile; they take the best parts of each of these genres and combine them together. The impressive vocals of R&B in the form of Brian Butcher, the catchy melodies of pop-punk, and the groovy guitar tones of djent / metalcore are all here, and they’re perfect ingredients. In fact, the first song I ever heard from them, “Watching All Your Friends Get Rich,” is a great example of this. Songs like “Right Through Me,” “Who Do You Know Here,” or “Sail” are great examples, too, but Brian Butcher is one of the best vocalists of the alternative scene right now. He’s been filling in for Issues on their farewell run of shows, and for good reason. Not too many vocalists can match that, or have the same talent that he does, but this band is going to be one to watch. This band isn’t only so talented because of their vocalist, but the rest of the band is talented, too, and it’s the musicianship that makes this band for me. I love the combination of the djenty guitars with the pop-punk melodies, because it gives me the best of both worlds — catchy hooks and heavy guitarwork. This is a cool band for people that want something a little heavier, but also don’t want screaming or breakdowns. These guys aren’t “heavy” in the sense that they’re brutal, or whatever, but they have that heavier tone, and it works for them. That also works for them, too, because what it means to be a metalcore band is being vastly rewritten by bands like Issues, Bad Omens, Beartooth, Bring Me The Horizon, and The Home Team who are utilizing more outside influence.

Talking about these albums made me think a lot about metalcore as a whole, and hard-rock, too, because rock music is in a weird state right now. You have people one side of the fence saying the genre is dead, and that there are no popular rock bands (at least ones worth caring about), and those are the most vocal people of the bunch, but on the other side of the fence, there are bands like BMTH and Issues that are redefining what rock can be. A lot of bands, especially ones that Jake mentioned, are fine with staying stagnant, and I guess there’s nothing wrong with it if that’s what you’re looking for, but there’s also nothing wrong with progression and moving forward. A lot of these bands mean something for the future of the genre, whether it’s for rock or metalcore. Both Bring Me The Horizon and The Home Team give me hope for the genre moving forward, because they have a lot to offer, and there are plenty of other bands out there that offer something new or interesting for the genre, so rock and metal are in a very exciting place at the moment.

That’ll do it for the first episode of The Record Exchange! We plan on doing this periodically, or at least whenever we have something to recommend each other, but I had this idea to start a conversation about two different albums, or at least in this case, two albums that are different yet oddly similar, especially for being in the same scene. Metalcore is a genre that I have a lot of love for, considering it’s one of the first genres I got into, and I like seeing the genre finally evolve, so I’m glad we were able to talk about a lot of albums and bands in that scene that are doing some cool things.

[jakeh2987]

Best Of 2023

Well, it’s that time, guys, gals, and non-binary pals — it’s the end of the year (well, it’s already the beginning of the new year now). My buddy Jake and I collaborated on a piece that talks about our favorites of the year, but I wanted to write a bit of a companion piece, in case you didn’t want to look at that, and just wanted to know what my favorites in order were, or if you wanted more detail on what I think of these albums. I won’t waste time, let’s dig into the honorable mentions first, and I’m only going to write maybe a sentence or two on these albums, since I don’t want this to be super long. The honorable mentions are in no particular order, either, I don’t rank those, but the top ten will obviously be just that — a top ten.

Spencer Sutherland - In His Mania

This is the newest album on the list, or at least newest that I found, and Spencer Sutherland is what I call a traditional and old fashioned pop artist with modern production, and that’s what his debut album sounds like. It’s incredibly catchy, fun, and grandiose, but also sounds timeless, and he has a killer voice.

Nita Strauss - The Call Of The Void

Guitarist Nita Strauss came out with her second album, and instead of it being purely instrumental, she included a lot of guests in terms of some of the biggest names in hard rock and metal, and this album kicks a lot of ass.

Thy Art Is Murder - Godlike

Controversy aside, the new album from Thy Art Is Murder is an album that sounds like the way I remember deathcore sounding. Not to sound like an old man, but these days, a lot of the genre is about how heavy and brutal you can get, whereas a lot of what I listened to back about 15 years ago is more about just having sick riffs, solos, and killer vocals. This record reminds me of that, and their new vocalist is pretty damn good.

Honey Revenge - Retrovision

This past year was a theme for catchy and fun albums that got my attention, and one of the first ones I found was Honey Revenge’s debut, Retrovision. These guys take 00s pop-rock and add their own flair to it. I really enjoy this album and I’m excited to see where they go from here.

Broadside - Hotel Bleu

Speaking of which, Broadside had a good year with their new album, and second album with Sharptone, but they took their sound into a mixture of pop-rock, 80s pop, and pop-punk. The album is pretty damn good, and has some of my favorite cuts of the year, but it does lose me a bit with how off the wall it can get. It doesn’t flow as well as it should, but the styles they utilize here are pretty good.

Blackbraid - Blackbraid II

I’ll be honest, folks — I haven’t gotten that metal for the majority of 2023. It’s not that it was bad, and like I said in my piece with Jake, I just didn’t find enough that I really connected with. There were a few exceptions, including Thy Art Is Murder’s latest, but Blackbraid’s second album, aptly titled Blackbraid II is a great mix of black metal, indigenous music, and even some hints of thrash and traditional heavy metal.

Wayfarer - American Gothic

My other favorite black metal album of this year is the new Wayfarer album, American Gothic, and if you wanted an album that takes country, Americana, and black metal, as well as lyricism about the Wild West and the realistic history of the time and region, you’ll love this.

Boys Like Girls - Sunday At Foxwoods

Boys Like Girls are back with their first album in 11 years, give or take, and it’s a good 80s-inspired album that has some slick hooks and reflects a lot more of lead vocalist and songwriter Martin Johnson’s project The Night Game. If you enjoyed that project, you’re sure to enjoy this one.

The Electric Mayhem - S/T

The Muppets had a pretty good year in 2023, especially with The Muppets Mayhem on Disney+, but the band released their debut “album” injunction with the show, and it’s a good little covers album (with a few originals in the mix) performed by the Electric Mayhem, and what’s great about this album is that it feels as though it’s performed by the actual band and not the performers of the characters along with session musicians. This album is just a bunch of fun all around.

Aesop Rock - Integrated Tech Solutions

I hadn’t listened to hip-hop much of 2023, but if there’s one album that I wanted to hear, it’s Aesop Rock’s Integrated Tech Solutions. This is a record that shows that Aes has nothing left to prove, as he’s got a relaxed and melodic flow, lyrics that are both insightful and observational, and a concept that doesn’t make much sense on the surface, but if you dig into it, the concept works a lot better.

Spiritbox - The Fear Of Fear

Spiritbox are back after two years, at least if you don’t count their Rotoscope EP from last year, but they put out a new EP entitled The Fear Of Fear. It’s a great EP that takes elements of their previous projects and combines it all together to make for a relatively short but engaging experience that is sure to leave fans wanting more.

Archetypes Collide - S/T

Archetypes Collide is a metalcore band that has a lot in common with bands like Linkin Park, Bring Me The Horizon, and other metalcore / alt-metal bands, especially ones with a pop sensibility like, because they have elements from a lot of different styles and put it all into a blender. This record is a ton of fun, despite not having much of a unique identity. If anything, hopefully their next album throws some more unique ideas into the mix.

Wind Walkers - What If I Break?

Wind Walkers is a band that Jake showed me, actually, and these guys follow in the same footsteps, although their new album (and first in five years) What If I Break is a generic record that does what it does well, and that’s kind of about it, although it does sound really nice and fans of this style should enjoy this quite a bit.

Cannibal Corpse - Chaos Horrific

Cannibal Corpse released a new album this year, and it was a hell of a good time. Chaos Horrific is the name of it, and this record is more or less what we’ve gotten before, but this record has a lot of passion, fury, and fire in it that I can’t help but enjoy quite a lot. Cannibal Corpse is one of the first metal bands I ever got into, and it feels fitting to put it onto my list, even if it’s the honorable mentions.

Caskets - Reflections

The last honorable mention I’ve got is from another band in the post-hardcore vein that has a pop sensibility, and their second album, Reflections, sort of dials down on the R&B elements of their sound, but the pop elements are still there in full force and they rule.

That’s all the honorable mentions I got, so let’s get into the meat of the list. I don’t want to go into too much detail, because I already did in Jake and I’s piece, but I still wanted to talk about these albums in one way or another.

10: Tyler Childers - Rustin’ In The Rain

Country has a bit of theme on my list this year, and the first album on my list is Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ In The Rain. This record is a nice nostalgic-sounding album that reminds me of a lot of the 1950s and the 1960s. Childers himself even said that this album was his idea of him auditioning for Elvis Presley, and it works quite well. I came back to this record quite a lot, because of how catchy and nostalgic it was.

9: Paramore - This Is Why

Paramore came back after a six-year hiatus, and they changed their style yet again by turning into a post-punk band and it sounds great. A few songs don’t do as much for me compared to the rest, hence why it’s lower, but the stuff that’s great is truly fantastic. If there’s one band that can pull off reinvention, it’s Paramore.

8: The Maine - S/T

The Maine dropping a really solid album wasn’t on my bingo card in 2023, but here we are. Their self-titled album from last year was a slick and catchy slice of 80s pop-rock that worked wonders for me. This record is my favorite of the bunch with this similar sound, including the new Honey Revenge, Broadside, and Boys Like Girls albums.

7: Seth MacFarlane & Liz Gillies - We Wish You The Merriest

A Christmas album in my top ten of the year? Say it isn’t so, but indeed, it is. I really enjoyed this record when it dropped in November, but I’ve been enjoying it quite a bit the last couple months. I’ve been playing a bit of Christmas music, and this is the album on the rotation. I wrote a full length review of this, so if you want to see what I thought of that album in more detail, check that out, but I do really enjoy this album, nonetheless.

6: Colter Wall - Little Songs

One of my other favorite country albums this year was the new Colter Wall record, Little Songs. Another nostalgic sounding album, this one worked more so for me, because of its lyrical content and Wall’s deep baritone. I absolutely love the sound of his voice, and how unique it is, but this record feels like it came right out of 1955 in all the best ways.

5: Beartooth - The Surface

Alright, top five time, and in that spot is Beartooth’s The Surfqce. An album that is both heavy and optimistic, I love this album and how it came out. I’ve been a fan of Beartooth for the last few years, and their last couple of albums where they’ve gone into more hard rock and pop sensibilities have worked wonders for me. This record is no exception, as it’s heavy and catchy. Hardy makes an appearance, too, and for as much flack as his last album got from a lot of online critics (the album, The Mockingbird & The Crow, isn’t thaaaaaat bad, but it’s fine), he does great here. This record is a whole lot of fun, though, and I’ve been playing it quite a lot throughout the year.

4: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - Weathervanes

Jason Isbell’s latest record is a behemoth of a record, as its lyricism is some of the best I’ve heard all year. Isbell’s vocals are the some of the best I’ve heard all year, too, but this record is some of the best Americana, country, and heartland-rock I’ve heard all year, too. This record gives every band member a chance to breathe, but every song is potentially the best song on the record. This album isn’t as higher, only because the top three on my list are more so personal for me, whereas this isn’t a personal one for me, although a lot of stuff on this record is very poignant and insightful. A lot of very relevant topics are brought up here, including addiction, abortion, school shootings, and racism, but it’s done so in an interesting way.

3: Zach Bryan - S/T

My top three this year were no contest. Zach Bryan’s self-titled is an album that caught me by surprise; this record is such a personal yet insightful look at someone’s mental and emotional state, but this record is wonderful. It’s a bit long, clocking in at around an hour, and a few songs feel like filler, but for the most part, this record is gorgeous. Bryan’s voice is utterly fantastic, and his lyricism is unmatched. These songs are some of the best of his career, too, and I’m so glad that a few of these songs were hits, even if they ended up being minor hits.

2: Metallica - 72 Seasons

For my top two albums of the year, these are albums that mean a lot to me, because of the bands that put them out and what they represent. The first one is Metallica’s new album, and their first in seven years, 72 Seasons, but this record is important to me because Metallica is the first metal band I ever got into a decade ago this year. I’ve been able to experience two Metallica albums live since they came out, this being one of them, and I’m also a lot older now. This is a great example of album where the band can do whatever they want, and they really do that by taking on multiple styles in this record. Metallica is the biggest metal band, if not the biggest band period, in the world, so they can truly do whatever they want.

1: Fall Out Boy - So Much (For) Stardust

This was a no-brainer — my album of the year is Fall Out Boy’s latest. They’re not only my favorite band, but they really hold a special place in my heart. This record is a long time coming, too; this is their first album in five years, and they went back to basics with So Much (For) Stardust, ultimately looking back to the past but also thinking forward. I don’t want to talk about this record too much, as I wrote extensively about it when it came out, and since then, but this record is a monumental one. It’s good to have Fall Out Boy back, especially with this new album.

Cheers to 2023, folks, let’s see what 2024 brings.

[jakeh2987]

A Look Back at the Things We Loved in 2023

2023, in many ways, was an incredibly challenging year, whether it be because of many things going on the world or just on a personal level, but there were a lot of things that kept us going throughout all of that. There was so much in terms of various entertainment throughout the year, and I wanted to take some time to talk about it all. But, thinking about it, I felt like I couldn’t do it alone. I immediately knew I had to call in my old friend Bradley (go follow him over at @thisaintascenereviews, he posts all kinds of music reviews and will be putting out a companion piece to this soon) ; we had recently reconnected earlier this year, but we used to write about music together a lot, so it was only fitting I ask him to be a part of this. When he and I talked about coming together to write this, we circled around the idea of really wanting to celebrate the things that brought us joy. Before we get to the heart of this with our music lists, we wanted to take a quick look back at the rest of entertainment and share a few of our personal highlights in movies, TV shows, video games, books, or anything that comes to mind, really!

So, Bradley, I wanted to ask, before we get into specifics, is there any sort of recurring theme or vibe or energy that you found yourself gravitating towards this year? I think for me, a lot of the stuff I loved most this year was really resonant because it tackled a lot of trauma and personal struggles and what happens when you try to get to the other side of that. I also found myself falling back on a lot of old favorites, things I knew would be comforting and safe in what was often a chaotic and uncertain year. 

First and foremost, thanks for having me here, Jake! When you approached me to collaborate on this, I was immediately on board, especially because last year was the first time I did a proper yearend list in a few years. I had a yearend list for 2021 as well, but I didn’t listen to a lot of new releases that year, as I only really got into new stuff in the last few months of the year. Last year, however, I took my time and really spent my time with a lot of albums and artists, but I digress. I guess what I’m trying to say is that things feel different this year, but in a very good way, so thanks again for bringing me on board. It feels like old times, so I couldn’t be excited to be doing this.

This year has been a challenging one, you can say that again, both in terms of what’s happening in the world at large, or personally, but one thing that’s always been there has been various forms of art and media to keep us entertained and comforted in these uncertain and challenging times. As for what kind of stuff that I’ve loved and gravitated to, I think it was a mix of stuff that resonated with me, whether it was IPs or albums that tackled and commentated on real world politics or dealt with personal struggles, and things that just were having fun. The last few years have been so stressful, dour, and downtrodden, I just wanted to have fun. I did last year, too, as a lot of my favorite albums from last year were things that let loose and had fun, but this year was more so a mix of catchy, fun, and energetic stuff, and poignant and personal, ultimately having something important to say.

I know we’re going into 2023 releases, but before we dive into that, did you find anything that was, for the lack of a better phrase, “new to you”? Over the last couple of years, I ended up going back to a lot of favorites, especially when the pandemic first hit, and I’ve been doing that this year, too, but I also found some new stuff, whether it was games, music, movies, or TV that isn’t new, but I spent a lot of time this year getting really into. A few prime examples were diving into the Mafia game franchise, as well as watching the show Justified for the first time this year, and really getting into artists like Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, and that doesn’t even scratch the surface in comparison to other stuff I got into, let alone the new stuff I got into this year, but whenever I had a lull in new releases, I’d revisit some old favorites, especially a few bands on my yearend list, and some stuff that’s related to some of my favorite TV shows and movies, too. What about you? Did you find anything that was “new to you,” that you hadn’t checked out before, regardless of what it was?

I actually have something that I’m in the middle of watching right now that perfectly fits this, that being Law and Order: SVU. That show’s been around since 1999 (and is still airing currently, believe it or not), and I started making my way through it from the very beginning over the last couple years, but 2023 was the year I really went all in on it. There’s something comforting, despite the heavy subject matter, about watching the bad guys get caught, and even if a particular episode isn’t especially interesting, being with the core group of characters is always a good time. I think it comes back around to having that catharsis and certainty that things were gonna be okay by the end of an episode in a year that often wasn’t. Another big one for me this year was the early 2000s teen drama series The O.C. It was four seasons of ridiculous, silly nonsense, but honestly, it was just what I needed. I watched a couple episodes a week in a Discord call with some friends throughout the year, and that was such a fun experience (I’m doing that right now with another show in a similar vein, One Tree Hill, with another friend). You put it really well, while I will always resonate most with stories and music that cuts deep to my personal experiences and is reflective of the world around us, sometimes you just wanna have fun, and The O.C. was perfect for that. When it comes to gaming specifically, I wanted to highlight a few things I really loved that came out this year. This year had so many incredible games come out, and there were a lot of different releases for a lot of different genres, so everyone had something they could resonate with, I feel. For me, I wanted to highlight a few that really hit home for a variety of reasons. For starters, this was a great year for horror games, and we got two really incredible remakes of genre-defining classics in Dead Space and Resident Evil 4. What both of these did really well is take the essence of what worked so well in the original games and bring it up to modern standards, whether it be Dead Space making the entire environment seamlessly explorable versus being restricted by loading screens and cornered-off sections, or RE4 getting a combat overhaul that brought it up to some of the best third-person, action horror combat you’ll ever play. It’s almost as if  these games play now the way you always remembered it feeling while still being new experiences. This year also saw the release of two of the most fun but also emotionally resonant action/adventure games I’ve played in a long time, those being Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Final Fantasy XVI. These two games really hit on that theme of going through something deeply traumatic and the aftermath of that, and they both had really fun gameplay to back it up.

But, my biggest highlight, and my personal favorite game of 2023, is easily Alan Wake 2. This game is one of the most unique pieces of media, period, that I’ve ever experienced. The way the dev team at Remedy was able to seamlessly interweave live-action footage into gameplay and story cutscenes is really cool, and it’s also a game that’s not afraid to commit to its really weird and abstract ideas. It’s also just a damn good survival horror game in its own right. So really, Alan Wake 2 was a perfect blend of unabashed creativity, and I’ll be thinking about it for years to come. I know you’re not as big of a gamer, but you do still play some things! You mentioned Mafia, but is there anything else you played this year that stuck out, from 2023 or otherwise?

Law & Order: SVU, huh? I used to watch that back maybe a decade ago when the USA Network would show reruns (back when those were a thing, anyway) of that and NCIS. Law & Order is a very successful and long running franchise, and the cool thing about a show like that is, since you have 20+ years of episodes to get into, you’ll be on it for awhile (although that could be a bad thing, too, just because there is a lot to get through). I felt the same way when watching Justified, although that show is less about the bad guy of the week and more so about a season long arc, but it was satisfying to watch the main character get the bad guys, and things would be momentarily okay. Sure, that’s not how life works, but like you said, for a year where a lot wasn’t okay, having that catharsis helps.

The OC is a good example of what I meant with having fun this year, although with sinking my teeth into hard hitting and poignant stuff, and in fact, I have something similar — I spent a lot of this year revisiting The Muppets, whether it was most of the movies, the 2015 sho, or the original Muppet Show, and that was a good time, because The Muppets are an American institution at this point that knowingly provide solace, fun, and a good time away from the bad things that are happening. I realized the last couple years, and I’ll talk about this more later, but not everything needs to be super deep, poignant, or meaningful. You can just have fun, escape, and lose yourself for a bit, regardless of what you’re diving into.

Switching gears, however, I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a “gamer,” but I do enjoy playing a lot of stuff. I haven’t really played anything from this year, per se, but I’ve gotten into a lot of stuff. I never played Dead Space, or RE 4, but I have played a good amount of horror games this year, namely the Dark Pictures Anthology, as well as The Quarry. Those games provided some of the best horror stories I’ve seen in awhile, even if the gameplay itself wasn’t always as interactive or interesting as other games.

I wish I had a PS5, so I could play the new Jedi Survivor game, as well as something like Spider-Man 2, but aside from the Dark Picture Anthology that I really got into this year, as well as getting into the first couple of Mafia games, a couple of games that really stuck out were playing God Of War: Ragnarok around this time last year (and the beginning of this year) after getting it for Christmas, and that is the sequel to the last one that I really wanted. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played; not only was the combat still just as good, and even more interesting this time around, the story was excellent (really going more into the Norse aspect than the first game), and the relationship between Kratos and Atreus was more fleshed out and ultimately very emotional and compelling. That ending, too, really got me excited for another one. Another really cool game I played this year for the first time was The Wolf Among Us, which is a game from about a decade ago made by Telltale Games that adapted an obscure DC series that is kind of a gritty look at the classic fairytale characters and it’s a choose your own adventure game, but that was a really fun experience.

I’ve played a bunch of other stuff, as I’ve downloaded a lot of the monthly games on PlayStation Plus, but those are a handful of games I’ve played this year that really stuck out. I wish I could have gotten more stuff from this year, but I’ve played a lot of stuff that was new to me, and that’s the most important thing, I think. With that said, do you want to talk about our favorite movies and TV shows from this year? I know I’ve got a few, but I’m sure you got a bunch of stuff, too, so I’d love to discuss that before we get into the meat of everything.

There’s one main thing I wanted to highlight when it comes to TV and movies, and that’s The Last of Us on HBO. If you’ve known me for any amount of time since its original release in 2013, you know that The Last of Us is easily my favorite game of all time. So, when I heard there was a TV adaptation being made, I went through the range of emotions I imagine a lot of fans did, from being initially skeptical of an adaptation in the first place, to being more open to the idea whenever we learned who the creative team and cast would be, to being excited once we started seeing footage in trailers. I don’t think I was ready for just how great this show would be, however.  Firstly, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey as Joel and Ellie were really wonderful;  they took what Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson did in the games and struck a good balance between paying homage to them and also adding their own layers to the characters. I also really love that the creative team was willing to take risks and do different things that played out very differently in the game (episode 3, without spoiling anything, is one of my very favorite things I’ve  watched this year, and that doesn’t happen if you’re restricted to just recreating the game 1:1). And with HBO behind it, the team went all out on making all the sets and environments really feel like they were almost ripped right out of some Naughty Dog development concept art. I really couldn’t have been happier with this first season, and I have all the confidence in the world that they'll continue to nail it as they go into adapting The Last of Us Part II in future seasons.

I do also wanna briefly mention Ahsoka, the new Star Wars series from this year. It was essentially a live-action fifth season of the animated show Rebels, but I had a great time with that. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Barbie. I mean, come on, Ryan Gosling as Ken singing Push by Matchbox Twenty as some kind of empowerment anthem, how can you not love that??

How about you, though? What really stood out to you from the world of TV and movies this year? 

You know, I never watched that, or haven’t played any of the games, but that’s something I’m going to rectify next year. I know how much you love those games, and that’s cool that we got a show out of it, let alone being so critically acclaimed.

In terms of TV and movies, I had a few things stick out, including Ahsoka. I’m kind of burnt out on Star Wars nowadays, but with Ahsoka, I enjoyed that show quite a lot, although it’s one of those shows that if you haven’t seen Rebels (or Clone Wars, for that matter), you won’t either get it or care, and I do hate that media, especially huge IPs, has become a web of needing to watch shows and movies to understand new stuff, instead of also being its own thing. Ahsoka ended up being a good surprise, though, especially after Obi-Wan being ultimately fine, but very predictable. 

Speaking of IPs with a lot of material, Marvel is worth talking about a bit. I watched everything Marvel put out this year, except for The Marvels, and only a couple of things stuck out this year, which were Guardians Of The Galaxy 3, and Loki season 2. The former is ultimately a send off for the titular characters, but without spoiling much, it was a good time that was also rather compelling and emotional. Loki’s second season was a masterclass on how you execute the “multiverse,” and how you make it interesting, since every IP is trying to make their own multiverse now. Kind of a shame that Marvel dropped Jonathan Majors as Kang (although it was for a very understandable reason), because despite his performance in the new Antman film being solid, that movie wasn’t particularly amazing, but he did great as Victor Timely in Loki, so I’m a little bummed that we won’t know what happens to Kang, unless the character is recast. I also wanted to briefly mention a few more shows — The Muppets Mayhem on Disney+, which unfortunately got canceled, but was a great romp that focused on the in-house band for the Muppets making their debut album after 50 years of touring, and the new season / spin-off of Justified that brought the main character back for one more grand story that sent off the show and the character with a lot of grace. The last show I wanted to mention is the Netflix show The Fall Of The House Of Usher from Mike Flanagan, and if you’ve seen any of his other work, it’s very similar, but as a fan of Edgar Allan Poe, he does his work justice.

Barbie is another movie worth mentioning, and it’s one of the most unexpected successes of the year, as no one thought a movie about a doll from 60 years ago would be as great as it was, but Ryan Gosling using Matchbox Twenty to express his feelings was a bunch of fun. I never saw Oppenheimer, but Barbenheimer was probably the biggest media event of the year. I didn’t see too many movies, at least new movies, but Killers Of The Flower Moon is my favorite movie of the year. A three and a half hour epic about the 1920s Osage murders in Oklahoma, it’s a compelling crime drama that showcases a very uncomfortable and awful truth in our nation’s history. I did also see the new Indiana Jones when it came out this year, and despite the movie getting torn apart in its release, something about seeing Indy again in one last romp was a lot of fun.

I guess it’s time to talk about the elephant in the room — our favorite records of the year, but where do we begin? There was so much music this year, but I suppose we can talk about our overall impressions with music this year, so what are your general thoughts and impressions with music this year? Did you gravitate towards one or two genres, or was your radar all over the place?

When I look back on this year in music, one of the main things I see recurring throughout my favorite albums and songs is the idea of coming back home to old favorites. So many bands and artists I love or am nostalgic for put out new material this year after hiatuses, fan-favorite members returning, or maybe not being at their best in recent years. I admittedly didn’t listen to as much that was new to me, but as the year went on, I grew to be okay with that! I’ve spent so many years chasing the next new and exciting thing to listen to, and while that’s great and led to so much music that I love dearly, I spent a lot of this year letting go of that need to discover the next new thing, and instead I just listened to things I knew I would find comfort in. That’s not to say I didn’t make any new discoveries at all, but it felt really nice to just kick back and enjoy the ride, so to speak. How about you, Bradley? In the over ten years that I’ve known you, your taste in music has evolved so much, so I’m really curious to hear what really sticks out to you about this year.

You know, Jake, that’s one thing from this year that I can say was a recurring theme, too — a lot of old favorites, including my two favorite bands period, dropped new albums after years in between albums, and it was nice to have those bands back, especially with some of those bands leaving a sour taste in peoples’ mouths with their last albums. I certainly did listen to some stuff that was relatively new to me, although it wasn’t from this year, and a lot of what came out this year that I love are from artists and bands I already enjoy. Sure, there are some that are first timers on the list, or that I’m just listening to for the first time, but there is a sense of comfort in revisiting your old favorites, or listening to new albums from your favorite artists. I was on the lookout for new stuff, but I wasn’t in a state of mind that I needed to listen to obscure and random stuff, and it was refreshing just to look for stuff, versus feeling like I needed to sink my teeth into everything that was in the zeitgeist.

I had a couple of other recurring themes this year, aside from also revisiting a lot of old favorites, or getting back into artists I haven’t listened to in awhile, and the biggest one for me is that I haven’t really listened to a lot of “heavier” music this year. I’ve been a fan of hardcore and metal for years, almost a decade now, and aside from a few pretty popular acts and a couple of more obscure ones, my list isn’t very heavy, but it’s interesting because it’s not that metal and hardcore have had a bad year. It’s been great, actually, but not a whole lot of it has resonated with me, I guess, and that’s okay. I still enjoy a lot of heavy music, but I’ve really expanded my horizons even more so this year. I’ve also really gotten into a lot of country and folk this year, two genres I’ve had mixed feelings on in the past, but I finally dive headfirst and really found a lot to love. I wouldn’t say my favorite albums are any one specific genre, but there are a few that show up repeatedly on my personal list, and out of my favorite albums of this year, and country is one them, surprisingly. Are there any genres that you found yourself listening to a lot, or any genres in particular from your favorite albums of the year?

Genre-wise, my favorite music this year is pretty all over the place, and I think that speaks to just how varied a lot of what I listened to was. Last year, I definitely found myself leaning towards a bit of a heavier, hard rock/alt metal sound, and the years before that was a lot of pop-punk and adjacent genres. Going back to the idea of letting go of any preconceived notions, I was able to just listen to whatever felt good in the moment, and that led to a lot more variety in what I heard, and that’s really exciting! When you see my list, you’ll of course notice that I do have certain sounds that I might resonate with a  little more than others, but overall, I think this is the most variety in one of these lists I’ve maybe ever had. Okay, so I think we’ve done enough buildup to this thing, haven’t we? I say we kick things off with our honorable mentions! I actually only have one entry for this, and that’s alternative pop/folk artist Noah Kahan’s Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), the deluxe edition of his breakout album that dropped earlier this year. Since this is technically a re-release of an album that came out last year, I didn’t put it on the list proper, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t give it some form of love because of how much of an impact it had on me this year. Huge shoutout to my friend Claire; she was always talking about Noah Kahan and saying I should listen to Stick Season, and one day early this year, I finally did. Very quickly, this album became a source of comfort for me, and I’ve had it in heavy rotation ever since. There’s just something warm and inviting about these songs and how Kahan tells stories through his lyrics. Plus, getting to share that with a friend made it even better, so it just really meant a lot for me to have something like this throughout the year.

From talking to you about making this piece, I know you have some fun things to mention even in just the honorable mentions, so whatcha got?

I can say the same thing, that this year is pretty all over the place, genre-wise. There’s a lot of great stuff that came out, and not just in any specific genre, but quite a bit. It’s exciting how much great music is out there, and how much came out this year. Of course, we all have sounds and genres that we resonate with and gravitate to more, but there’s nothing wrong with that at all.

Noah Kahan is a really solid artist, and it’s been great seeing his blow-up this year. He’s sorta bringing that 00s indie-folk sound back, although in certain corners, it never quite went away, but it’s great. I’ve listened to Stick Season myself, and it’s a solid little record, especially for that type of sound. As for myself, I got about fifteen honorable mentions (I wanted to keep it between five and ten, but this year was so packed with great albums, it was hard to keep it so short). I was only going to highlight a few here, but I think I’ll briefly list each record, because all of these albums are worth hearing, but let me know if any of these were on your list, or stick out to you, Jake.

I wanted to start off with a few metal albums, because metal did have a good year, but only a few metal albums stuck out to me. Native-American black metal band Blackbraid and their sophomore album, Blackbraid II, was a great surprise, expanding on their idea of taking melodic black metal and combining it with indigenous music and lyricism about nature, and the band Wayfarer, with their new album American Gothic, takes black metal and combines it with country, folk, and Appalachian music and lyrics about the Old West to make for a very unique experience that I’d call “Cowboy metal.” Death metal stalwarts Cannibal Corpse also put out a new album, Chaos Horrific, and I put this here because while it doesn’t really reinvent the wheel, these guys are an institution at this point and they’re always reliable to give you a solid record. The only real surprise I had in terms of metal was the new Thy Art Is Murder record, Godlike; aside from the controversy around this album, which I won’t talk about, the band sounds revitalized and their brand of deathcore isn’t anything special, but it hits hard here.

I did enjoy a few post-hardcore records, too, and a couple of them are records / bands you put me on. Caskets’ Reflections, Wind Walkers’ What If I Break, and Archetypes Collide’s self-titled are bands in the “pop and R&B meets post-hardcore” vein, and they’re nothing special, either, but they execute that sound so well. Spiritbox also dropped a new EP, The Fear Of Fear, and that’s why it’s not on the list proper. I didn’t feel like putting a single EP on the list, but it’s a great record that showcases their strengths. Guitarist Nita Strauss put out a really cool album called The Call Of The Void that brings together a lot of who’s who in hard-rock and metalcore, and it was a fun little romp with some good tunes.

Aside from hard-rock and metal, I had a lot of fun with other styles of music, especially catchier music. This year had a bit of a theme where alternative bands, either bands that have been around for a long time, or just put out a debut album, released an alt-rock album with an 80s sheen. Bands like Honey Revenge and their debut Retrovision, Broadside’s Hotel Bleu, and Boys Like Girls’ comeback album, Sundays At Foxwoods are in that vein, but they’re so fun and catchy. The last few albums I really wanted to highlight are one of their kinds, really, but they really resonated with me — The Muppets Mayhem show also included a soundtrack from The Electric Mayhem, which was really fun. I didn’t listen to a lot of hip-hop this year, but Aesop Rock put out Integrated Tech Solutions, a really fun, catchy, and witty look at how technology affects people and the lack thereof. My last album is a late addition, but the new Spencer Sutherland album, In His Mania, is a really solid and timeless-sounding pop album I found this past week, and I just had to include it, because his voice is so good.

Okay, let’s take a breath and regroup, because that was a lot, but what were your favorite albums this year? Were any of the ones I talked about on your list? I’m real curious to see how our lists overlap, but I’m also excited to see how different they are, too.

I have a pretty definitive number one, and I’ll save that for last, of course, but my top ten can be broken up into a couple different groups with similar sounds and moods, so let’s get started with that! First, I have what I’ll affectionately called the “sadboi hours” albums, and these are albums that hit you hard emotionally. This Wild Life’s Never Fade and City & Colour’s The Love Still Held Me Near have a very chill, almost serene sound, and that allows all the focus to be on the vocals and lyrics, and they both do very well with that sound. It’s nothing necessarily super different than what these artists have done before, but they both do it really well, and it hits me just right if I’m having a rough go of it and just need to be in my feelings . My next category of sorts would be albums that were just super fun listens from start to finish First, Broadside continued to carve out their own lane in the pop-punk scene by leaning into their pop sensibilities on Hotel Bleu, and Olllie Baxter’s voice is just endlessly enjoyable to listen to. Next up, there’s Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness’ Tilt At The World No More, a breezy indie-pop ride that continues McMahon’s signature self-reflective songwriting and piano tunes. In a sort of similar vein, Citizen’s Calling The Dogs, while I admittedly didn’t like it quite as much as their previous album, is a quick burst of indie-rock jams that you can’t help but dance along to. Next up, I wanna shout out Casket’s Reflections and Beartooth’s The Surface, two albums that fall into the hard-rock/alt metal category. Caskets just does this sound really solidly, and they’re anchored by an utterly killer vocalist in Matt Flood. You’ll get a good mix of catchy hooks, emotionally-charged  lyrics, and a lot of damn solid music to back it all up. A lot of the same could be said about Beartooth; Caleb Shomo has morphed into one of the best frontmen in the scene, the hooks are incredibly catchy, and the lyrics are hard-hitting and emotional, but I think what sets The Surface apart from the others is Shomo’s focus on self-love and positivity. Shomo’s made it no secret that he didn’t wanna write about super dark things with this album, as he was undergoing a life change and it would be disingenuous to do so just because it was the expected thing for the band. It really shines through, and it makes The Surface easily Beartooth’s best album. Before we get to my final three albums, I wanna turn it back over to you; what are some of the albums in your top ten that especially resonated with you?

I don’t want to spoil my top three, so I can think we can save those for last, but I can say the same about my top ten having some minor themes to it, although there are a handful of outliers, too. I think I’ll dive into those first, because they don’t adhere to a theme, but since you mentioned Broadside and Andrew McMahon In The Wilderness (whose new album was quite good, by the way), another album in the “alt-rock / pop-punk band making catchy, fun, and 80s-influenced stuff” is The Maine’s self-titled. That was a bit of a theme for me this year, but I wanted to include my favorite of that bunch in my top ten, and that’s the one that really worked for me. Citizen’s new album, while not on any of my lists at all, was still a really good album that might have been a slight step down, but still offered something different. The same thing that I said about The Maine’s S/T also goes for the handful of alt-metal and post-hardcore albums with pop sensibility that I talked about. That’s where The Surface by Beartooth comes in; I certainly agree that it’s their best album, and it really takes their catchy sensibilities to the next level. Caskets’ Reflections was great, too, but Beartooth’s latest just hit so hard. Its lyrics and main thesis statement from Caleb Shomo were part of that, too. I really appreciated his optimism this time around, and it made for a very liberating album.

I do have a couple more albums, outside of my top three that resonated with me, and one theme that I’ll touch on with my top three is the idea of some of my all time favorite bands coming back after a lengthy hiatus, or just surprisingly releasing a new album, and Paramore is the one band from the bottom half of my list to do with that This Is Why. While not my favorite Paramore record, the stuff that’s really good on here is just that — a masterclass in post-punk. But another major theme I touched on earlier was country music dominating my list this year. Albums from a lot of lesser artists known in the mainstream but very big in the underground dropped some killer albums, such as Colter Wall’s Little Songs, Tyler Childers’ Rustin’ In The Rain (which is nominated for a couple of Grammy’s), and Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit’s Weathervanes. The latter album is one of the most poignant, emotionally compelling, and best performed albums of the year. 

I did have one more album in my top ten that doesn’t fit a theme, and I almost felt as though I was cheating with it, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to include it. This is gonna be a shock to most people, maybe yourself, too, but Seth MacFarlane and Liz Gillies (of both of Family Guy and Victorious fame, respectively) teamed up for a jazz / Christmas album in the form of We Wish You The Merriest. If you enjoy jazz music, and/or Christmas music, this may as well be a new album on the yearly rotation, because it will be for me. Sure, it’s a Christmas record, but there’s something about this album that really resonated with me, whether it was their vocal chemistry or the way they handled these classic (and exclusively secular) Christmas songs. This record is very fun, festive, and catchy, and if you want a good modern Christmas album, it doesn’t get any better than this.

With all of that said, let’s talk about our top three, and I feel like I know what one of ours will be, since it hasn't been mentioned yet (yet people who know either one of us know what one of our favorite bands is), but what are your top three albums of the year? These are the best of the best, even among the top ten, so what do you got?

I feel like I know which album that will be, too, but before I get to that, I wanted to bring up a band you had recommended to me, actually, that being Spanish Love Songs and their album No Joy. I had only vaguely heard of them before, but you had recommended that I check out their album from 2020, Brave Faces Everyone, and I really enjoyed that. I think No Joy came out shortly after, and that album kinda snuck up on me. I really liked it on first listen, but I kept coming back to it more throughout the year, especially as I started thinking about this list. What Spanish Love Songs do really well is write really poignant lyrics that paint a vivid picture in a very direct way, Much like bands such as The Wonder Years, Bayside, or another band who may or may not be on this list, these guys just know how to hit you in the feels, as they say. For number two, this is the one  that’s not gonna be remotely surprising to you or anyone reading this if you know either of us, and that’s Fall Out Boy’s So Much (For) Stardust. This band really needs no introduction at this point, but I do think the backstory behind this album is pretty fascinating, as well as my feelings leading up to it and ultimately how the album turned out. We’re both pretty staunch defenders of Fall Out Boy’s post-hiatus material, but their last album, 2018’s Mania, is a bit of a tricky one for me. I respect the hell out of the band for going all out in the way that they did and trying new things, but in chasing all of that innovation and trying to remain fresh, I feel like they bit off  more than they could chew, and it results in an album that I don’t enjoy going back to as much. The band themselves have said as much, so when they went back to the studio to make So Much (For) Stardust, they essentially decided to make the album they would have made if they had never gone on hiatus after 2008’s Folie A Deux. In doing so, I think Fall Out Boy made what is easily their best album since Folie, and you can really feel how reinvigorated the band is throughout. It’s a real love letter to everything they’ve done without feeling derivative, and that’s such a tricky balance to strike for a band this long into their career. It was just so gratifying to have a  band that’s meant so much to me for so long now really firing on all cylinders. 

Finally, my favorite album of 2023 is, without question, The Menzingers Some Of It Was True. This is the album that resonated with me the most this year, and it’s largely due to the recurring themes of being in your  early thirties and being stuck in this holding pattern in life, and it really digs into the anxieties and insecurities that come with that. I turned 31 a little over a week ago from writing this, and I struggle a lot with this idea of not having everything figured out and feeling kind of directionless due to any number of factors, whether it be societal pressures or seeing the people around you find their way through all this. The Menzingers have always been really damn good at capturing these emotions (2017’s After The Party is still one of my all-time favorites), but I don’t think I was ready for just how hard this album would hit me. It really gave a voice to a lot of the things I’ve been feeling these last couple years, and I’m super grateful for that. It also just helps that they continue to be damn good alt-punk songwriters who know their way around a catchy hook and some energetic guitars. I’ve always really liked this band, but Some Of It Was True  cemented them as one of my all-time favorites. So, Bradley, kicking it back to you, what are the albums that really stood above the rest this year? 

Spanish Love Songs, eh? No kidding, that’s cool you really loved their new one! Their new album, No Joy, is a fantastic album. I don’t like it as much as Brave Faces Everyone, as that album really hits home, but No Joy is a great addition to their catalogue. That’s an album I painfully cut from my honorable mentions, and that’s saying something when I had to make a handful of cuts that I wouldn’t have otherwise made in almost any other year.

I’m gonna come out the gate, spoiling part of my list, but my favorite album of this year is Fall Out Boy’s So Much (For) Stardust. I think you said it best, Jake, especially for how we’ve always been defenders of their post-hiatus work (even when in retrospect, some of it hasn’t aged the best, but it’s really damn good), and this new album had a lot riding on it. Their last album, Mania, was a really solid album with overblown production and self-indulgent songwriting that could have used some rewrites, but I really enjoy that album still, warts and all. They still shine through in that record, despite how it goes off the rails sometimes. With Stardust, they could have easily harkened back to 2005 - 2007, because emo nostalgia is huge right now, but they didn’t. They took everything they’ve done since Folie A Deux, and put it all into a blender, as well as adding some new spices and flavors, making for an album that feels both nostalgic but forward thinking. Fall Out Boy is my favorite band, period, and they always have been, so this album represents a lot. In a year that has been rough in many ways, getting this new album from this band that I’ve loved since I was 13-years-old and having it sound the way it does makes me feel like I’m falling in love with them all over again.

Before I talk about my second and third favorites, I did want to go off what you said about The Menzingers, and their latest. I’m glad you loved it as much as you did, but I was kind of disappointed by Some Of It Was True. I really enjoyed it, but I really love Hello Exile from 2019. I listened to that for the first time before this record came out, and I feel as though that album has the same themes but done a bit more interestingly, and a lot of the subject matter is the same as what they’ve always done, but is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. It’s an album that still connected with me for those same reasons.

Anyhow, the two albums that resonated with me, aside from So Much (For) Stardust are Metallica’s 72 Seasons and Zach Bryan’s self-titled. Two very different artists, and they both resonated for different reasons. Metallica is very similar to Fall Out Boy, as they’re my other all time favorite band, and despite not being into a lot of metal this year, hearing this was a breath of fresh air. We haven’t had a Metallica album in seven years, and their last album was fine, but very much trying to appease their older fans. This one does a mix of trying to do that again, but also doing whatever the hell they want. This album has flashes of thrash, traditional heavy metal, doom / stoner metal, alt-metal, and grunge. There’s an interesting variety of sounds here, and while this album gets a little too self-indulgent at times, they pull you back in just when the album starts to lose you. For diehard fans, and even the public at large, this is the best Metallica album we’ve gotten since maybe the Black Album, but I did also listen to 2008’s Death Magnetic for the first time earlier this year and I really enjoy that album.

Zach Bryan had a huge year in 2023, and no one expected that, especially after the awful year that mainstream country’s had. Having songs in the top from Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, and Oliver Anthony (who’s the least awful of the bunch, but “Rich Men North Of Richmond” isn’t very good), Zach Bryan took the world by storm with his self-titled album that came out almost out of nowhere. His duet with Kacey Musgraves, “I Remember Everything,” went to number one, and it’s one of my favorite songs of the year, but this record resonated with me because of how personal, introspective, and “real” it sounded. The instrumentation is raw, organic, and stripped back to make room for his vocals and lyrics that are very well-written and understated. This is his most personal album yet, despite how he has been writing more third person / story based songs, but this is just heart wrenching stuff. Out of the country albums that came out this year, and the ones on my list already, this was my favorite.

Whew, this was a long one, but a very good one, nonetheless. This year was also a good one, too, at least for music, anyway. We had too much stuff, especially in comparison when other years haven’t had anything at all. Do you have any final thoughts before we wrap this up and tie a bow on it, Jake?

Ultimately, I’m really glad we decided to do this kind of on a whim. It’s always fun reflecting on the year, but it was even more so getting to tackle it with an old friend and really dig into each other’s perspectives, and even explore some different mediums like gaming and movies/TV a little bit! This was an often challenging year, but it was also a really great year for the things we love most, and I’m excited to see what 2024 has in store for us!

[jakeh2987]

Yellowcard- Ocean Avenue 20th Anniversary Retrospective

I’ll be honest with y’all; I never thought I would be writing about music again, at least not like this. Music is one of the things I’m most passionate about, and I love yelling very loudly about what I’m into at any given time or a new discovery I just made. But, actually sitting down to talk about music in a more in-depth and introspective way is something I thought I had left behind. From 2012 until about 2016, I used to write album reviews, and it was a lot of fun! I loved having an outlet to really dig deep into this love for music that I had, especially when I often couldn’t do so in other spaces in my life. Unfortunately, the music reviewing/critic community I fell into during that time became increasingly toxic and gatekeepy, which led me to step away from writing, and I’ve had a much less stressful relationship with talking about music since. It’s been really freeing to just be able to yell about whatever I love most, and I’ve found a lot of really wonderful communities who are fiercely anti-gatekeeping and encourage being unapologetically passionate about what you love, music or otherwise. 

So, that leads us here, the 20th anniversary of the release of one of the most important things of my life, Yellowcard’s album Ocean Avenue. I realized about a month ago that this utterly wild milestone was coming up, and Yellowcard had also recently reunited after what was expected to be a permanent breakup to announce a new EP (which is now out as of finishing this piece, and spoilers, it’s wonderful) and a tour in celebration of this anniversary, so this got the wheels turning for me. Ocean Avenue is such a special collection of songs for me, and I feel like I could have a lot to say about the album and my memories with it, so I thought it might be fun to take a crack at writing again.

Let’s go back to the summer of 2006; I just recently graduated middle school, and I was spending time with my grandparents at our summer cabin. I remember waking up early a lot of days that summer to catch the music video block on MTV before they’d switch over to their reality shows, and one of my favorite videos to watch was Yellowcard’s “Ocean Avenue.” I really loved how catchy that song was, how fun the video was, and I also really enjoyed hearing that sort of guitar and drum sound in music. Plus, they had a violin player in the band! How cool was that?!  I grew up around a lot of 80’s hair metal, and my younger sister later roped me into the boy bands of the late 90’s/early 2000’s, but there was something about Yellowcard’s sound that grabbed me and became the first kind of music that was really “mine,” for lack of a better term. So, we take a trip to Walmart one day, and I take a look at the CDs that are in the electronics section. I saw a copy of the album Ocean Avenue, and knew right then I had to have it. After a little convincing, I was able to get my grandmother to give me some of the spending money I set aside, and I don’t think I’ve ever ran to the checkout area faster than I did that day. Even better, I happened to have a portable CD player in the car with me, so I opened it as soon as we left and popped the CD in for my first listen. Little did I know just how impactful that day would be.

I could talk about how this album is a classic in the pop-punk scene, how Yellowcard has managed to have staying power for the last twenty years for so many people (despite a couple of hiatuses and albums that fans weren’t nearly as high on), so on, and all of that is very true, but I mostly wanna talk about what it meant to me then and what it means to me now after all this time. Ocean Avenue was the very first album I ever bought with my own money, and it was the album I really credit with lighting the spark that was my love of music. Without it, I absolutely have no idea where my journey with music would be, and that’s a scary thing to think about. I also vividly remember hearing the first notes of “Way Away” on that car ride back to the summer cabin, and despite it being my first time hearing the album, I remember instantly feeling this warm, comforting feeling, like it was something I had always known and was there whenever I needed it. And twenty years later, I still have that feeling. 

When I listen to this album now, no matter what I might be going through or where my life is at, I have this sense of reassurance that everything’s gonna be alright, that I’m gonna get through it and come out the other side of it. And that just means everything to me.

Thank you, Yellowcard, for the last twenty years of incredible music, the memories, and the reminders that yeah, no matter what life throws at me, I got this. Here’s to the next twenty <3 

[jakeh2987]

Hello there!

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve dusted this thing off, but with Twitter on the brink of burning down, a few of us decided to venture back here! And you know what, I think that’s pretty cool. 

I used to post music reviews here, but got super burnt out on it after realizing I just wanted to enjoy this thing I love dearly without making it into content. That being said, I still love putting together lists of my favorite albums and songs every year, so I think I’m gonna post my lists here when they’re done in a few weeks!

So, expect those soon! In the meantime, I wanna leave you with a song from an album that’s for sure gonna make the year-end lists, to give you an idea of what I’ve been listening to this year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnCUJVPQH3I

[jakeh2987]

We Found Each Other In The Dark: The Last of Us Retrospective

On Christmas Day in 2012, I was gifted two games by my cousin; I had just gotten my PS3 over that summer, and while I had a few games, my library was pretty limited at that time. Those two games were the first two Uncharted games, Drake's Fortune and Among Thieves. I played those games in very quick succession over the next month or so into 2013, and bought and finished the third game, Drake's Deception. To this day, the Uncharted series remains my favorite in gaming, but little did I know just how impactful that Christmas gift would end up being in my life, even nearly eight years later. At this time, I didn't really follow specific game developers or studios; I kinda just saw a game I was interested in, kept up with that particular game, and eventually bought it when I could. However, I knew I had to see what Naughty Dog, the company who developed the Uncharted series, was going to do next. It turns out they were working on a little game called The Last of Us that was going to be releasing later that year. I was all in on the marketing and diving into any coverage I could, and the anticipation kept building unlike any game I could really remember. Then, right before the game's June 14th release, the reviews hit, and my excitement hit its peak, because the reception was absolutely glowing in a way I hadn't really seen for a video game. I knew The Last of Us was going to be special, but I don't think I was prepared for how much impact it would have. A couple days after the game came out, I was able to go out and pick up a copy. I don't remember how long it took me to finish the game, but I do remember rolling credits on it at like 3 or 4 in the morning one day, just letting them play while I sat there in total awe at what I just played. The Last of Us is a game that truly blew me away in so many different ways, but the thing that has always stuck with me is the story and its characters. The Uncharted games had really fun stories and memorable characters, but Naughty Dog brought it to another level with this game. Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson as Joel and Ellie remain some of the most powerful performances I've ever seen in not just gaming, but in any medium. The storytelling, while on the surface a fairly typical post-apocalypse, zombie-like survival story, was told in a really grounded way that made it resonate more than a lot of other stories in the genre. Everything was centered around Joel and Ellie's journey and how their relationship progresses, and there are some truly poignant moments throughout the story that I still get emotional watching when I replay it or watch someone else play it. This was a story about love and how far you're willing to go to protect it, or find it again, and it's also a story about resilience and finding hope in a world that doesn't have much of it, to say the least. I often find something new to take away from it every time I play it again, which I've done every year since I got my PS4 and the Remastered version in 2015. I can certainly say that playing it this year to get ready for its sequel in the midst of a global pandemic in real life added another layer in the back of my mind. But ultimately, The Last of Us is a game that's about two people finding each other in darkness and helping each other navigate it into, hopefully, the light, and that has stuck with me from day one. There's a reason this piece is named after the song by City & Colour, but more on that in a bit. The Last of Us is an amazing game on its own, but there's also a personal reason this game means even more to me now than it did even when I first played it. One of my very best friends Patches and I met on Twitter in December 2017 because of our mutual love of the game. Funny thing is, it was totally by chance; she had attended that year's Playstation Experience, and she got the opportunity to meet Neil Druckmann, creative director/writer for the games and now-Vice President of Naughty Dog, basically the creative face of the game. Neil had retweeted photos of a tattoo Patches had gotten and a photo of the two of them meeting, and I happened to see them and decided to give her a follow. I was just starting to get my footing in online gaming communities after listening to the Kinda Funny crew and other places throughout that year, and I was looking for more people to follow who were in the same spaces. The tattoo, which is a replica of Ellie's tattoo from Part II, was also just really cool. Anyway, Patches and I interacted a bit throughout the next year or so, but it wasn't until late summer/early fall last year that we actually became friends and grew to be really close. I won't go into personal details here, obviously, but we were both in some rather dark places, and I think we were able to dust each other off and help pull each other out of that darkness. We became life-long friends because of that experience, and now we have a really strong bond over this game, and I'm just so eternally grateful for that. Like I said earlier, this game is about two people who find each other in the darkness and helped pull each other out of it, and because of this game, Patches and I were able to do that for each other. And for a video game to have an impact like that is truly special. As I write this, we're just about a week away from the release of The Last of Us Part II. I know this game is going to destroy me emotionally, but I couldn't be any more excited for it. The first game changed the way I looked at video games and it led me to a life-long friendship I'll cherish forever, so I cannot wait to see what Part II has in store. 

[jakeh2987]

Album Review by Bradley Christensen Three Days Grace – One-X Record Label: Jive Release Date: June 13 2006

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[jakeh2987]

I recently sat down with my best friend Bradley to talk about our friendship and the new Fall Out Boy album. I think it came out beautifully, so it would mean the world to me if people gave it a read. 

A Conversation About Fall Out Boy & Friendship

By Bradley Christensen & Jake Higgins

Recently I reviewed M A N I A, the new album from Fall Out Boy, and I talked about the personal meaning behind the album for me. It’s an album that represents happiness, above all else, since I can say that I’m truly excited for another album from them. It’s been a few years since they released an album, and when 2015’s American Beauty / American Psycho was released, it took me some time to get excited about it (at least before its release), since I was going through a messy breakup at the time. M A N I A is a record that I can just be happy about. It’s an album that I can be excited to hear, as well as listen to. It’s definitely not the first Fall Out Boy album that I have positive memories with, but it’s the first album since 2013’s Save Rock & Roll that I can be truly excited about. Not that I don’t like American Beauty / American Psycho, or anything close to that, but I wasn’t excited for weeks or months until its release. I was dreading it, really, because it’s an album that I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear. My point is, though, M A N I A has no negative connotations attached to it, but even then, American Beauty / American Psycho doesn’t anymore, either. I’m at a much different and better point in my life, and M A N I A is a good reflection of that, but there were some things I didn’t talk about in my review. I did that on purpose, though, and you’ll see why in a second. Consider this to be the “sequel” to that review, but Fall Out Boy is the reason that my best friend, Jake, and I met. We met in late 2012, give or take, and we really started talking, thanks to him picking up a copy of 2007’s Infinity On High. I had posted about it on a Facebook page that I was apart of, and he saw it one day at Walmart, so he thought he’d check it out. He messaged me about it, and since then, we’ve been the best of friends.

It goes even further than that, though, because Fall Out Boy has always brought our friendship together. Jake and I are two different people, but at the end of the day, we both love music. Our tastes are definitely different, but they’ve grown over time. We’ve gotten each into other stuff, as well as challenged our tastes, especially by me indirectly getting him into Fall Out Boy. Speaking of which, we have a mutual love and respect for that band, because they’re the band that brought us together, so to speak. Because of that, we’ve always had this bond over Fall Out Boy. We talk about, dissect, and analyze everything they release, as well as love it and revel in it, but Fall Out Boy albums being released in something we both can be excited about. That’s one thing we both share, and M A N I A is great, because we both can be excited about this record, no strings attached. I wasn’t able to get fully immersed into American Beauty / American Psycho for things that were happening on my end at the time, but that album brought us closer together, because we were both going through things. M A N I A is an album that we can both be excited about, because we’re both at a good place in our lives. We knew that we had to review this album somehow, especially together, but Jake came up with a cool idea – an interview. It’s an interview with two best friends, just talking about an album, versus a review where we go back and forth. It’s something we’ve done before, and we wanted to try something a bit different. I really like the idea of an interview, because we can just talk. It’s a conversation about this album, Fall Out Boy (as well as their body of work), our friendship, and music in general.

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[jakeh2987]

Fall Out Boy's Young And Menace Is Not a Terrible Song (You're Just a Terrible Fan)

A few weeks ago, Chicago rockers Fall Out Boy released the first song from their upcoming album MANIA, titled "Young And Menace," so naturally, buzz was abound in the music community. Fall Out Boy have managed to stay on top after all these years despite a hiatus and numerous shifts in sound, so of course new material would create some pretty big buzz. As for the song itself, we'll get there, but before we do, I will say that the reaction to the song has been interesting. The song itself is pretty weird for Fall Out Boy, so it seems like a lot of people were initially put off by it, but have since warmed up to it after letting it settle in more. Sure, you'll always have your detractors who still want them to sound the same way they did back in 2005, but besides that, we didn't find anything too extreme, right? Well, that's not quite the case, sadly, because shortly after the song dropped, we watched two videos of people "reviewing" the song. Reviewing would be a pretty big stretch, though, because these videos were utterly awful in every single way. The first video was initially called "Fall Out Boy's Young And Menace Is a Terrible Song," and it was seriously one of the most angry and entitled things I've ever seen. The next video was normally titled, thankfully, but the content wasn't much better. This girl acted like the band was a significant other who cheated on her after a really long relationship. Yeah, it's that bad, but what could have caused such bizarre reactions? Well, let's get into the song itself, and if you've noticed by my use of "we," I'm not alone. Take it away!

Thanks for bringing me on, Jake, but I was thinking about writing something like this, too, because of those “reviews.” Fall Out Boy is my favorite band, and has been for the last ten years (it’s always been a toss-up between them and The Beatles, frankly), but I couldn’t imagine having the same reactions these people had. I might be in the minority of those who enjoy their post-hiatus work. 2013’s Save Rock And Roll was great, and 2015’s American Beauty / American Psycho was even better, but I could understand people not liking those albums. They are on the “poppier” side of things, and it’s one thing not to be into that stuff, but like Jake said, I’ve seen so many accusations of them being “sellouts,” pandering, trendy, and how they merely need to go back to “the older stuff.” People, it’s not 2005 anymore, they’re not the same people they were back then. They won’t be making emo / pop-punk anymore. That’s just how life goes, and that’s one thing I’ve always admired about Fall Out Boy. They never make the same album twice. Hell, even their first two albums are relatively different. 2003’s Take This To Your Grave has a very rough around the edges sound, but 2005’s From Under The Cork Tree has more of a pop sensibility to it. I wasn’t sure where Fall Out Boy would go with Mania, but one thing was for sure – it would be interesting. Because the band has never made the same album twice, and they’re the kind of band to do whatever the hell they want, I don’t understand where the “sellout” crap comes from. I never have, honestly, because they’ve never played to anyone’s rules but their own. They’re one of the biggest bands in the world right now, so why would they need to pander or trend-hop? Well, the answer is that they wouldn’t. They don’t have anything to lose at this point. When you’re as big as Fall Out Boy, you don’t have anything to prove anymore, so it makes even more sense for them to do whatever they want.

If you want to look at a band that’s a shell of their former shelves, look at Linkin Park. I find it odd that the first video was super angry about Fall Out Boy’s new song, but one of his favorite bands was Linkin Park; he didn’t like the first single off their upcoming album, but you’d think he’d be angrier, right? Why does Fall Out Boy get all the blame? I don’t understand fans’ entitlement. The first video was whining about how Fall Out Boy should stick to “rock music,” and that when you listen to bands, you should “expect rock music,” whatever that means. He was more angry and upset that they weren’t making music with “guitars and stuff” anymore, but the weird part is, this song has guitars, they’re just not used in a conventional way. This isn’t a conventional song. The second video was still weird, but it came from a more “disappointed” angle. The band is her favorite, too, but she sounded so betrayed, upset, and sad that the band went into a direction that she didn’t like. Like Jake said, it was like she felt scorned by a former lover, and was lashing out at them for being with someone new. It’s one thing not to like the song, and yeah, I could understand fans not liking it. It’s weird, it’s different, and it’s a bit more “out there,” but to proclaim them as “sellouts,” pandering, and trend-hopping, as well as saying they should break up (they did that, for the record), is utterly ridiculous. Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean that everyone else shouldn’t, either, and that the people that happen to like it are dumb, stupid, or wrong for enjoying it. I pity people like that, Jake, because they’re so consumed by anger, hatred, and pettiness, they can’t focus on the things that they enjoy. With that said, though, I sort of want to understand why these people have the mentality they do, so let me ask you this, Jake: how do you feel about “Young And Menace,” and why on Earth would fans be so enraged, angered, and upset by this to cause such a massive reaction?

It's funny, man, because like I said up top, plenty of people don't like the song, and you'll have the section of the fanbase who wish they would go back to their "classic" sound, and you know what, that's okay under normal circumstances. Bradley and I aren't saying that you have to like a band's every move, but what we are saying is to calm down and at least have some respect for people who do like it. There's no need to act like the band murdered your family and cheated on you. Honestly, though, after spending time with the song, sure, it's a little weird for Fall Out Boy, and Pete Wentz himself expected this, but it's the "sellout" bit of these people's argument that baffles me. This song is not something you would hear on the radio, and hell, I'm not entirely convinced this is actually the first single. But okay, is the song actually good? I think it is. Not one of their best, sure, but it's a pretty damn good announcement of sorts that tells me they're gonna keep doing what they want with the pop-rock genre. Vocalist Patrick Stump sounds great as always, drummer Andy Hurley has some nice fills throughout, and guitarist Joe Trohman continues to get more creative with his playing. People keep saying this sounds like a bad Chainsmokers knockoff had sex with rejected dubstep from 2011, and I'm sorry, but I can't hear that at all. The band is still very much a band who are all playing their instruments, Patrick Stump is still a killer vocalist, and Pete Wentz' lyrics haven't missed a beat. So, if you really think about it, everything that makes Fall Out Boy who they are is still there, but what gives? Why is this song, of all things, some fans' breaking point?

I mentioned above, too, that it’s okay if people don’t like the song, let alone their last couple of albums that went into a more blatant “pop” sound. There’s a fine line, however, between not liking something new that a band puts out (usually because of a sound change or line-up change that dramatically affects them) and not liking something new that a band puts out, solely because it doesn’t sound like your favorite albums. Some people have their nostalgia goggles on a little too tightly. As Jake said, though, you don’t have to like a band’s every move, just show some respect to people that might enjoy it. I could understand people not enjoying it. Hell, this song in particular isn’t very mainstream-friendly, immediately dismissing any “sellout” notions. Similarly to Jake, I don’t hear any Chainsmokers influence in the song, but you can make any unfounded comparisons by saying two things sound alike. Sure, this song has electronic elements, but that doesn’t mean they sound like the Chainsmokers. It’s very obvious that there are “real” instruments being played on the song, especially on the hook, but if I had to guess, the reason that this song is a lot of fans’ “breaking points” is because it’s not what they expected the band would do. Fans of the first few albums might not like the last couple of records that were released post-hiatus, but they could at least expect the band to go in that direction, thanks to how they were sounding pre-hiatus. “Young And Menace” is a drastic change from anything that they’ve done before, but that’s what I like about it, truth be told. It’s not one of their best songs at all, but it’s different. For all we know, this song won’t even represent the entire album, especially when the album doesn’t come out until the fall, but I think this is where fans are drawing the line, because it’s not like the “older stuff,” and they’re almost abandoning their pop-rock sound here, too.

Maybe fans feel as though this is a complete betrayal to them, as this isn’t the band that they first fell in love with. The weird thing about that, however, is that most bands never end where they start. Unless they make the same album over and over, and they never mature as people or musicians, no band or artist has the same mindset or sound that they did when they started, especially if it happens to be more than a decade. In Fall Out Boy’s case, they’ve been around for almost 15 years at this point in their career (making them about as old, let alone even older, than a lot of their younger fans that got into them before their reunion or afterwards). Maybe these fans just feel slighted as they’re going deeper down the rabbit hole of experimentation. A lot of these angry fans want the band to stay the same forever, but I think it’s also got something to do with how they’re abandoning the “guitars and stuff” sound of their earlier work. Even in their last couple of albums, they had a pronounced presence of organic instrumentation, but this song doesn’t have as much. It’s there, it’s just not as well pronounced, causing fans to feel even more betrayed. These types of fans only listen to music with “guitars,” or whatever they deem to be “real music.” A lot of these annoying Fall Out Boy fans tend to have that mentality. They don’t like pop music, or anything that’s out of the norm for the bands they like, but these are all just theories. Who knows why people are so angry about this song? It doesn’t matter, though, because this shows one thing – Fall Out Boy have nothing to prove, as well as nothing to lose, and no matter how people feel about this song, they’re talking about that. That’s what Fall Out Boy wants.

I think that's the point we're ultimately trying to make here; Fall Out Boy has nothing to lose at this point, so why would they waste their time listening to shitty fans? Fans like that love to throw the sellout label around, but you know what would really be selling out? After all the bitching and whining from fans, despite the success of their post-hiatus material, the band just randomly decided to appease the fanbase and make a half-assed From Under The Cork Tree clone. So-called "fans" would be happy, but it wouldn't be a very good album, and no one else would be happy, especially not the band. So yeah, take your shitty entitlement and shove it up your ass, because Fall Out Boy aren't going anywhere. If you're still feeling cheated, just go listen to your "tr00 rawk" bands who refuse to evolve out of the early-2000's for fear of losing fans like you, or because apparently music is only real when it has guitars. Whichever bullshit explanation you wanna throw out first, they have never applied to Fall Out Boy, because simply put, they're smarter than that. And sometimes, I wish their fans could be as smart as they are.

[jakeh2987]

I helped write this with my best friend. I would greatly appreciate it if you read it. 

Album Review by Bradley Christensen & Jake Higgins Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High Record Label: Island Release Date: February 6 2007

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[jakeh2987]

My best friend wrote a really nice review of one of my favorite band’s final album. Check it out here!

Album Review by Bradley Christensen Yellowcard – Self-titled Record Label: Hopeless Release Date: September 30 2016

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[jakeh2987]

My best friend reviewed one of my favorite albums of the year, and it’s a pretty good one!

Album Review by Bradley Christensen Bayside – Vacancy Record Label: Hopeless Release Date: August 19 2016

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[jakeh2987]

My best friend and I reviewed the new Chevelle album. Check it out! 

Album Review by Bradley Christensen & Jake Higgins Chevelle – The North Corridor Record Label: Epic Release Date: June 8 2016

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