Post-Everything Music

This is another article I wrote for the school newspaper.

Who: Five sappy romantics who have mastered the art of the broken hearted ballad.
What: A career of sad yet poppy releases that tug at your heartstrings and make you sing passionately along.
Sample Lyric: You taught me how / I play the fool / Every mistake that I make / I couldn't have made without you / What's said is done / It's plain to see / You take it all too seriously.

The Get Up Kids can be found in the stereos of countless lovelorn teenagers across the country. That is because their albums provide a great backdrop for brooding over lost love. TGUK hail from Lawrence, Kansas and write songs like they have endured more disappointing relationships than the average 20 something male seems capable of. Their formation in 1995 had an original line up consisting of Jim Suptic (vocals/guitar), Matthew Pryor (guitar), Rob Pope (bass), and Ryan Pope (drums). They released their first full length, Four Minute Mile, on Doghouse Records in 1997 and that record helped define the direction of a musical genre tentatively called "emo" (see sidebar for more info).

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Here is the sidebar insert:

"What is Emo?"

Everyone you ask will have his or her own definition. No one really knows where the name "emo" came from (and no one seems to really like it), but it is said to stand for "emotional music." It's origins are generally attributed to Rites of Spring: a mid eighties era punk/hardcore outfit that found a way to blend sensitive guy emotion without sounding sappy. Of course, that is a pretty far cry from bands like The Get Up Kids, Mineral, Sunny Day Real Estate and others that are said to be emo bands. The definition of emo has definitely changed over time. These days, the general consensus of musical scholars as to the technical definition of the genre is as follows: odd time signatures, a lot of soft/loud dynamic contrast, more complicated arrangements, and poetic lyrics coupled with a breathy style of singing.

Jim DeRogatis described emo sonically in the July 1999 issue of Guitar World Magazine as being characterized by, "a lot of arpeggiation (some say this came from Mineral), power chords and octave chords (this definitely came from Rites of Spring) and a fondness for dramatic contrasts between clean and distorted amp sounds and loud and soft dynamics." This is a fairly accurate description. Just pick up any Jimmy Eat World album and you will agree.

No matter what your personal understanding of emo is, it is agreed by most everyone that the bands labeled as being so are great for listening to when you're down. Check out The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About, Sunny Day Real Estate - Diary, or Jimmy Eat World - Clarity for a taste of emotionally charged punk rock that goes down as easy as liquid candy.

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1999 saw TGUK releasing their sophomore album, Something to Write Home About. This album showed the band following the direction laid down by their first release closely, but with better production and a cleaner, tighter all-around sound. Something to Write Home About also introduced James DeWees into the line up, helping expand the band's sound with his keyboards and synths. His arrangements really add a nice pop element on the peppier songs and a somber beauty to the quieter tracks. Songs like "I'll Catch You" and "10 Minutes" display this contrast with the former being a slow, piano driven number, and the latter being a loud, fast, synth accentuated, power pop song.

Two years later they release Eudora, a collection of B-sides and covers, but it wasn't until 2002 and On A Wire that they ventured much from their previous works. Their newest album was decidedly not like their prior releases. It showed them moving away from the emo sound they helped define to a Mallory, more laid back pop rock stance that is unique unto it's self. The songs range from the radio friendly single "Stay Gone," to the all acoustic, summer fun ballad, "Campfire Kansas" even to the CD's most epic and beautiful song, "Walking On A Wire." Some longtime fans may have been lost due to this change in direction, but many more were no doubtedly gained, thanks to exposure on MTV2 and good reviews from magazines like Rolling Stone and CMJ.

No matter what the influences they bring into song writing, The Get Up Kids deliver great tunes because they have talent. Jim Suptic's intense tenor bleeds through solid rhythms and powerful guitar sounds on any one of the albums. For a sample of the mean of their work, check out Something to Write Home About, but don't write off their new stuff either. They are the kind of band that could release a pop album after years of indie rock stardom and still be a great band. Oh wait, they already did that. What's next for these small town Kansas boys?

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Okay, was it cliche? Yes. I don't care though. I have one I wrote about Further Seems Forever that I will post once I get a copy of the paper it was in home. I'm also currently writing a review of the mewithoutyou album. Watch for that too.

Posted by Jonathan at 3:27 PM | Permalink

I wrote a review on Beloved's new CD for the school newspaper. I'll post the ones I wrote for the other issues too once I remember to bring copies of them home so I can type them out.

Who: Five North Carolina natives who have made a name for themselves by blending emotion with pure, abrasive, hardcore aggression.
What: Their first full-length album, Failure On, is a masterpiece of melodic hardcore goodness.
Sample Lyric: With a fresh sense of purpose and direction / We cannot hide now from ourselves / In disguises all our own / Still we can't escape at all / We run from things that can't be seen / But if we would close our eyes . We would see the real threat against us / I will not run from this world.

Lots of bands have tried blending melody and hardcore. Not many have done it very successfully though. Few bands do it well enough to stand out. Luckily, for those who enjoy both beauty and brutality, there is one band that has accomplished what few others have been able to. This band offers both harmony and destruction--and both are done well. This band is Beloved.

Beloved is a five-piece band consisting of Dusty Redmon (guitar), Joshua Moore (vocals/guitar), Matt Harrison (guitar), Johnny Smrdel (bass), and Joe Musten (drums/vocals). Though the band has been playing together since high school, Beloved was first heard from in 2001 when they released The Running EP on Vindicated Records. Even though the disc only contains five tracks, it is an accomplishment in melodic hardcore. From the first chord struck, to the fade of the last song, The Running EP rocks in ways many band's full-length efforts never come close to. Needless to say, many people got excited over these boys from North Carolina, including the people at Solidstate Records. Beloved signed to Solidstate and in 2003 finally released their first full-length album, Failure On.

With three guitarists, Beloved can play intricate song arrangements like no other. They all have their own unique parts without creating anything so busy that is it distracting. Of course, having three guitarists pays off when they need to get heavy--and do they ever get heavy. Listening to Failure On is like being lulled to sleep by a quiet rainstorm only to be awakened by an especially loud clap of thunder.

durning any given verse, Moore's earnest vocals and poetically vague lyrics weave their way through intertwining guitars, all the while backed by solid rhythms and clean bass tone. Then, everything is kicked up a notch and the double bass pedals begin to pound and Joe Musten's low screams beat their way through the instrumentation. If you are in the pit during a Beloved breakdown, watch people proceed to die. If you are listening to the CD in your room, then try your best not to spin kick your stereo. That is how powerful the songs are.

The whole CD is really great and does a good job of keeping your interest too. Nothing gets boring. There is even one song that has no screaming at all, just to mix things up. All in all, this album is a great melodic hardcore disc. If you appreciate heavy music, but prefer things to stay a little more melodious, then this CD is perfect for you.

Posted by Jonathan at 9:38 PM | Permalink

So, I'm sitting in school and I've got some time to kill. Here's the deal. I'm listening to Copeland. . . and they rock. Their cd Beneath Medicine Tree is completely great. If you do not have this disc, then you should go out and get it now. Right now. Such is the extent of it's awesomeness. I think just about every track on the cd is great, from the piano driven "Brightest" to tracks like "California" and "Priceless" to drum machine laced "When Finally Set Free." This cd makes me weep with tears of sadness and intense joy. Their singer has one of the best voices I've ever heard and bust out falsetto like it was nothing. Seriously. He's like, "Hey, here's some awesome falsetto I just busted out. It was nothing." And he doesn't whine either. He's very poetic. Musicly they are pretty laidback and don't really touch on anything heavy, but that's the best part about it. When you need something light, or just something that's awesome, put in some Copeland. Their sound is very unique, but fans of acts like Dashbaord Confessional and other emotionally charged music will love this disc.

Posted by Jonathan at 11:15 AM | Permalink

Hey kids, we know you've been waiting for it so here it is. . .

Operating Procedure for Applying for Membership:

1. You must submit a list of your top 15 bands/musicians and they must not suck. (There is a two band margin of error, but no more than two sucky bands will be acceptable).

2. You must submit a review of a band, album, or concert and it must not suck.

3. If the review does not suck it, will be posted by one of the administrators (you will be given credit) and you will enter a "probationary membership" period of one month. During that month you must submit no less than two reviews, which also must not suck. After a period of one month (if two non-sucky reviews have been submitted) you will be promoted to a full membership status.

Membership Perks:

1. You get your own log in for the blog and may post without prior review from an administrator.

2. You may post on anything music related (not just reviews) including, but not limited to: rants about bands, albums, the scene (Janesville or otherwise), MTV, the radio, etc.

3. Other people will think you are cool, and members of the opposite sex will find you more attractive.

4. You will be first in line to receive free cds and/or merchandise if ever we get any.

That's it. There aren't that many perks to being a member other than being able to post. Also, if you would like to contribute to the site without becoming a member then you must only submit a list of 5 of your favorite bands (none may suck) along with whatever you wish to contribute. To submit anything, email it to both littlehetzel@hotmail.com and embracethisnight@hotmail.com with "Post-Everything Music" in the subject line.

Thank You
Jon and Jon

Posted by Jonathan at 5:20 PM | Permalink

Hey, I'm Jon Taube, I'm the other owner of this blog. Here's my history. . .

I didn't even listen to music until the sixth grade and I listened to rap on the radio because I wanted to fit in with the other kids at my new school. The summer after sixth grade my friend Jon Logan borrowed me two of his Ghoti Hook cds and I really liked them because I thought they were funny so I convinced my mom to let me order them offline. Those were the first "punk" cds I owned. The next summer I went to CBLI and met a bunch of cool guys who introduced me to a bunch of cool tunes. I started getting into bands like MxPx and other pop punk bands, then during the following school year I started listening to more hardcore punk like Rancid and Epitaph bands. Sometime during the summer after 8th grade I found out there were cool bands who didn't play punk and I started getting into emo, and hardcore and stuff. I don't really listen to punk much at all anymore. Very recently (since this summer) I started getting into keyboard pop like Reggie and the Full Effect and Atom and His Package, even more so the past week or two since I downloaded more of their stuff. I haven't listened to the radio in over three years (except when I'm in a vehicle with someone else who is), and I'm very much a musical elitist. Elitist meaning I judge whether or not I want to be friends with a person based on what kind of music they listen to. Here's a list of my top 15 bands (in no particular order):

Coheed and Cambria
Dashboard Confessional
The Get Up Kids
Sunny Day Real Estate
Thursday
Zao
Pedro the Lion
Further Seems Forever
Norma Jean
Saves the Day
The Dillinger Escape Plan
onelinedrawing
The Juliana Theory
Shai Hulud
As I Lay Dying

That's just kind of off the top of my head. Keep checking back for more updates. We will soon post some stuff on membership and so on.

Posted by Jonathan at 3:35 PM | Permalink

Hey kids. Welcome to Post-Everything Music, a site for music lovers that will cover a wide variety of good music. And yes, it will be biased because it's our site so we get to decide what's good and what isn't. This site was an idea of Jon Hetzel's in response to the fact that he talks about obscure bands on his blog a lot and he got the feeling that no one cared. So, if you're here, then that means you care. There will be different people contributing including Jon Hetzel, and myself, Jon Taube. If you're interested in becoming a contributing writer, or a member of this blog, contact either me or Jon at Gambit230@aol.com, or littlehetzel3@hotmail.com, respectively. We will be drafting a set of rules, expectations, and guidelines for articles and/or members. Watch for those shortly.

Posted by Jonathan at 8:06 PM | Permalink