As I mentioned to you guys in my first post, I had been maintaining a music blog up until recently. One of my favorite types of posts to publish on that blog was a “Now Playing” post (in fact, the last one I wrote was just that!) in which I would share the artists and songs that have been dominating my earbuds lately.
Recently, I have been loving on some pop punk music. Not that this is out of the ordinary; I spent a decent chunk of my life listening to basically nothing but pop punk. However, in the last few years, I attempted to branch out and became deeply involved in the singer-songwriter, “indie”, mellow music world, growing attached to artists like Joshua Radin, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Damien Rice.
While I truly love my singer-songwriters, the biggest spot in my music-loving heart is reserved for pop punk. Since I began seeing my boyfriend, we have started introducing each other to some of our favorite bands. Because he has been a drummer for most of his life, his favorite music tends to be heavy on the drums, upbeat, fast-paced types of music…like pop punk.
In the last few months, he’s introduced me to a few bands that I’ve previously heard of but never devoted a lot of time to. Now, they are some of my new favorites. Here are the bands that have been ruling my airwaves:
All Time Low: This is a band that I have loved for a lot of years. So Wrong, It’s Right has always been a favorite album of mine, especially with songs like Six Feet Under The Stars and Dear Maria (Count Me In), but I found myself disappointed in their follow-up album, Nothing Personal. They put out two additional albums after that, and I never listened to either of them. However, when I met my boyfriend, we began talking about our mutual love of All Time Low and he encouraged me to listen to their most recent albums. It is begrudgingly that I admit that their album Don’t Panic is a new favorite. The first four songs on the album are solid gold; I’ll bet I’ve listened to If These Sheets Were The States about a million times.
Forever The Sickest Kids: Considering how much I love All Time Low, I can’t believe it’s taken me until now to listen to this band. They sound incredibly similar – both incorporate upbeat electric guitar, a fast-paced drumline, and catchy-ass lyrics. Their album Underdog Alma Mater is one of the best albums I’ve ever listened to. In my opinion, save for one song on the album, it’s nearly perfect. Some of my favorites include My Worst Nightmare and Believe Me I’m Lying. Because this was their debut album, it was a difficult one to top, but their 2013 album J.A.C.K. came pretty damn close.
New Found Glory: As a teenager who lived and breathed pop punk and lived in band t-shirts, I was definitely familiar with New Found Glory, but I’ll bet it’s been about 11 years since I’ve actually taken the time to listen to any of their songs. And, though this may come off as a little “hipster-y”, I tend to prefer some of their older tunes to newer ones. Their 2009 album Not Without A Fight boasts catchy yet morose lyrics, but with the upbeat tempos, who could ever tell?
Relient K: During my senior year of high school, I had an enormous crush on a boy whose favorite band was Relient K, so back then, I tried to listen to a lot of it to impress him (*sigh* high school love). However, as is the case with New Found Glory, it’s been years since I gave this band a listen. Shortly after we began dating, my boyfriend put together a mix CD for me (which, by the way, is the quickest way to my heart) and put their song Must Have Done Something Right on there for me. I had forgotten how much I loved the lead singer’s voice and the lyrics these guys write, but after hearing lines like “And I know that it’s so cliche / to tell you that every day / I spend with you is a new best day of my life”, I started listening to all the Relient K I could get my hands on.
Mae: Mae is another band that I have loved for years and their album The Everglow has always been at least one of my top 20 albums of all time. On our first date, my now boyfriend mentioned that he saw on my Facebook page that I liked Mae and I got so excited, I started wildly gesturing and gushing over how much I love them and miss their music, all of which he enthusiastically reciprocated. After that date, I began listening to The Everglow on repeat, falling in love with it all over again. This is especially relevant today because Mae just announced that, in 2015, they are going back on tour for the 10th anniversary of the album and will be playing it beginning to end. I can assure you that he & I will for sure be in that audience!
What bands and songs are you guys obsessing over these days?
Twenty-Something 