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By PR Director, Nikki Vergakes
The night of Wednesday, Nov 18th was an emo and pop-punk filled with emotion. All of the bands played that night at the Royale produce the kind of heart-wrenching tunes that you hand-drum your steering wheel to on long rides to your home town in the pouring rain. They're the kind of jams you turn a shade of blue to. The bands that made me feel all the things Wednesday night were Head North, Sorority Noise, Seaway, Knuckle Puck. I didn't see all of the Head North set, however, the Buffalo native band warmed up the crowd. They ended with their popular, slow ballad "In the Water". Sorority Noise was when I, and everyone else felt the most feels. You could split up the show in two parts: the first part was slower, the second part was faster. They were both equally as intense, however. During Sorority's noise intense set, the lead singer, Cameron Boucher, discussed his troubles with depression. He recalled sophomore year of college, where he was out with his friends (of course, at pizza), crying because he didn't know why he felt the way he felt. He didn't know why he felt so terrible. I've personally never dealt with this unfortunate mental illness, however it affects many people that I care so deeply about. He expressed how hard it is to deal with. He said that he learned who his true friends are. "The friends that tell you to get over it don't understand, and are the worst kind of friends to have," he said. He then sang the moving song "Using". I saw two girls hugging and crying in the crowd, overwhelmed with emotion. I loved seeing how music can really affect people. I stopped wishing I was dead Learned to love myself before anyone else Become more than just a burden I know I'm more than a worthy of your time I also loved these sassy lyrics from Dirty Ickles: When we broke up You told me to try and find myself So I found myself in someone else's bed You could say I'm a fool But you've had four boyfriends since I've learned learn to love myself more than I could ever love you Knuckle Puck, being the headliner, was the most intense and awesome of the night. They had the whole crows chanting "I'll tell you everything is copacetic" even before they played Untitled. Of course when they did, it was glorious.
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By Kyle Talbot, New World Order on Sundays at 3-5pm
The emo revival has come in full force: Modern Baseball, Foxing, and Tiny Moving Parts are on the rise with a style of music that started with Mineral, American Football, and Texas is the Reason in the mid to late 90s. Today, I’ll provide the details on the seminal album of one of the more influential bands of the last ten years in the emo/math rock scene: Algernon Cadwallader. They were active from 2005-2012, releasing two full lengths (Some Kind of Cadwallader and Parrot Flies) and two EPs (Fun and Demo), as well as various singles. They got their name from ‘the first mayor of Yardley, PA which is a suburb of Philadelphia, where two members of the band are from. The band is memorable not just because they have a name that’s borderline unpronounceable, but because the group (along with bands such as Snowing and Cap’n Jazz) were the forerunners of the current emo revival. They might not be around anymore, but they were the catalysts of it. Today, I wanna focus on Algernon Cadwallader’s first album, Some Kind of Cadwallader. The album is what propelled them into relevance and is their most memorable piece of work to date in all its simplicity and its complexity. The first highlight of the album is the title track Some Kind of Cadwallader. I found this song on a whim from a tumblr post, and I was whisked away into something I had never experienced before. The influences of their contemporaries such as Cap’n Jazz and Snowing are undoubtedly there, but they manage to take the sounds of both their contemporaries and their forefathers like Mineral and Texas is the Reason and turn it into something great. The song is also incredibly strong lyrically. See, I have a massive liking for great lyricism. It juxtaposes two different scenarios against each other: the extraordinary brilliance of one’s first prom against climbing a mountain and finding a four leaf clover. The best part is, it’s all done in so few words. I bought you a corsage/And pinned a flower on my jacket/Because this night means a lot to me./Then you went/And spilled punch/All on my tuxedo shirt/White as a cloud/And now I’m screaming out loud I found another four leaf clover/Up there on the mountain peak/Where it was hard to speak about…/And the only thing that would come out/And the only thing that would come out was.. These both climax into cathartic chants of OH MAN, IT’S TAKING ME OVER, repeated for effect until it gets caught in your head and starts taking you over. In the first scenario, it could be seen as despair for the ‘best night of your life’ being ruined and that despair taking over, but in the second scenario it could be more of a joyous sensation taking over, showing the two extremes of good and bad emotions almost. And, this is all in two minutes and twenty five seconds. Next up is Motivational Song. This song shows a lot of the musical talent that the band has, with the complexity of the twangs of the guitars and the crashing of the drums making a fantastic foundation for singer Peter Helmis. With his raspy shouts given to the microphone in extended periods, voice adds a raw, emotionally charged quality to the soft guitars and cymbals on the tracks below him. The tracks may be different, but they all flow together so well to create a great full band experience. And again, the band has fantastic lyricism in so few words with this one. Johnny, Johnny get on with your life/Won’t get a chance, to get on with it twice/So if fucking up feels right/Then fuck it up/Spread love and you’re less likely /To step in shit when you’re retracing/Share what people show you. The message is so simple: do what you love and the rest will follow behind you, Johnny. And get on past whatever’s behind you, because you have so much greatness to give the world around you. Last on the list for today is the epic closer to the album, In Response to Irresponsibility. The finish to the album is a staggering thirteen minutes and fourteen seconds, with only twenty-seven words spoken throughout its length, having a powerful message behind them: When trees/With more leaves/Never teach/The younger trees/We all learn/the same thing/How quickly/We rot back/Into the earth/And start over. It sends a haunting final message to the listener of the album: if we do not teach our young based fixing the mistakes we made, then we are doomed to repeat the flaws of the past. If we do not teach the lessons we have learned, how can the young learn unless they make the same mistakes? The song is lyrically moving and also a very easy listen with how much of the song is a Modest Mouse-esque jam session. Song lyrics from plyrics.com and songmeanings.com. Here's a friendly reminder that WMWM Salem is hosting a lip sync battle on 11/30 at 7 p.m. in Vets Hall! Get a group of 5 or less friends to perform an awesome lip sync routine to win either $200 to Lazer Quest, $100 to Dave & Busters, or a Pizza Party.
Need inspiration for a song? Here's a list of awesome songs to sync. To sign up, catch us in Marsh dining on Monday form 5-7 p.m. |