The cart jumps off the rails immediately as we dive right into memories of our sophomore lockdown when we originally meant to talk about our junior trip to Six Flags, when we originally meant to talk about Relient K. Chap Stick… was easily one of our most played songs in high school, and the lyrics offer a really awesome glimpse into early 2000’s tech, which most of the listeners of this show I’m sure can relate to if they dig deep enough back into their brains. There are also some pretty gnarly theories about the actual meaning of the lyrics which we explore in addition to the great music video and the fine line that Relient K so gracefully danced between being a Christian and being a young man who lives in a very secular world.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry Music Video
The Dear Maria Episode (Road Trip Stories!)
The Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been Episode
Songs of the week:
Lillith by Halsey
California Chvrches
Hit us up online!
We get a little bit out of our comfort zone this week and imagine ourselves alone on a stage, spotlight shining, performing our favorite songs for friends, coworkers, and strangers alike. Here are the 10 songs we would pick if we were the types of guys to do such a thing, which we definitely are not.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The Pop Punk & Emo Karaoke Mixtape on Apple Music
The Pop Punk & Emo Karaoke Mixtape on Spotify
Sugar, We’re Goin Down Episode
Sugar, We’re Goin Down Misheard Lyrics Video
Songs of the week:
Bells in Sante Fe by Halsey
Dirty Bombs by Grayscale
Hit us up online!
We talk about Fall Out Boy a lot. Like, a LOT. And we have no plan of slowing down, or at least we didn’t until we realized while recording this episode that we’re kinda the biggest FOB casuals in the world. One more so than the other (take a guess).
This draft inspired lots of stories of some of our band’s first shows where we covered early Fall Out Boy songs, recording sessions that went tragically, Tom drops a hot steamy dumpy of a take like it was nothing, and we try to get to the bottom of “is Fall Out Boy emo”?
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The Fall Out Boy Mixtape Draft on Apple Music
The Fall Out Boy Mixtape Draft on Spotify
The Sugar, We’re Goin Down Episode
The A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me Episode
The This Ain’t a Scene Episode
Songs of the week:
Live Again by Grayscale
Drift Away by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Hit us up online!
Please have your tickets ready at the gate, because the hype train is screaming through town and it’s slowing down for NO ONE! In 2007 Mayday Parade put out one of the most legendary albums of all time and we’re taking our sweet, sweet time digging through every masterpiece on this thing.
In the episode, we discuss how we emotionally connected to each song on the record, the perception of the band at the time, and missing one of our only chances to see them live.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
A Lesson in Romantics on Apple Music
A Lesson in Romantics on Spotify
Interview with Mike Henneberger
Rock Bottom at the Renaissance by Mike Henneberger
Mayday Parade’s Drum Kit that Tom’s Old Bandmate Owned
Mayday Parade on Audiotree Live in 2017
Songs of the Week:
Die On The Vine by Ways Away
Star-Crossed by Kacey Musgraves
Hit us up online!
Few bands have had as much influence on our musical taste, our band, and our lives as Taking Back Sunday. This episode has been waiting to come out for a while, and we spend an awfully long time drafting our favorite Taking Back Sunday songs from their first 4, pre-2011 albums.
Mixed in we’ve got tons of personal stories and connections to each song, some fan fiction, and wild conspiracies about song titles and gaps in the recordings. The angst-o-meter is off the charts for this one.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The Taking Back Sunday Mixtape Draft on Apple Music
The Taking Back Sunday Mixtape Draft on Spotify
The Cute Without the E Episode
The Tell All Your Friends v. Where You Want To Be Episode
Rap (is not very good) Flight of the Conchords
Songs of the week:
Bed of Nails by No Pressure
A Good Night’s Sleep by The Starting Line
Hit us up online!
Khaki rock is back baby, and we’re here for it! Andrew McMahon graces our screens with some sensible slacks, no shoes, and multiple microphones. There’s not much to the video, a few dudes being dudes, hanging out in Canda on a day off from touring. They seem both exhausted and energized by the camera lenses pointed at them, and they deliver a totally fun performance and some oh-so-relatable yard game shots.
Since the video itself isn’t too involved, we really dive heavily into our own about hating the newspaper, journalism students quoting Wikipedia on a college essay, Tom giving a 15-minute speech on crop circles, taking piano lessons, and some tour stories that heavily relate to the lyrics of this amazing song.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
I Woke Up In a Car Music Video
Intensity In Ten Cities by Chiodos
Songs of the week:
Runaway Horses by The Killers
A Damned Shame by Gold Bloom
Hit us up online!
We both watched a 1h 46m minute just to deliver this episode, and we couldn’t be any more apologetic to how it turned out. This meandering conversation touches on the song and music video at times after taking breaks from nonsensical deep dives into the Denver airport, watching movies on cable television, and collect calls from jail.
We’re not super proud of it, but we had a lot of fun recording it! So we hope you enjoy the episode and just give us a break for ONCE! We didn’t listen to Cobra Starship growing up but we knew you wanted us to talk about the video, so we did our best. Love you.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Interview with Bert Poncet of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Songs of the week:
I Wanna Bite Your Face by Eve 6
Playing Dead by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Hit us up online!
In a genre not often associated with very technical artists, quite a few drummers have stood out from the pack as absolute masters of their instrument. This week we draft our favorite songs that feature insane drumming, and we impose a “no duplicate drummer” rule in order to encourage talking about drummers not named Travis Barker.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The Drum Draft Mixtape on Apple Music
The Drum Draft Mixtape on Spotify
Jason McGerr’s Grapevine Fire Shuffle
Songs of the week:
Marigold by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
I Guess I Just Feel Like by John Mayer
Hit us up online!
After realizing that The Academy Is… is not Rookie of the Year, the guys take a moment to reflect and speculate on the perception and reception of The Academy Is… as a band, and we discuss the rise of belt culture and too tight tees. Pat has a WILD story about being flown to Seattle to be on a film set, and Tom asks a girl out on the set of Transformers 3. Then we went off on bad haircuts the day before a wedding, ruining a soundcheck, there’s a quick therapy session, almost we forgot to talk about The Academy Is... if we’re being honest.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The Academy Is… Trivia Game Show Episode
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More “Touch Me” by Fall Out Boy Episode
Songs of the week:
Last Train Home by John Mayer
Weekend by Upstate
Hit us up online!
2006 was an absolute bonkers year for new music. Some of our favorite tracks came out as we were sophomores in high school and we ate it up with a knife and a fork and did not want for more
Things remained pretty civil in this week’s episode and we ended up with a banger of a playlist. Make sure to stream the draft playlist on Apple Music, Spotify, or Amazon Music! And hit us up on Twitter with your 10 songs from 2006 that absolutely knocked your emo little socks off.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The 2006 Mixtape Draft on Apple Music
The 2006 Mixtape Draft on Spotify
Mutiny! by Set Your Goals episode
Emote! at the Location Twitter Account
The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls episode
Curse of Curves by Cute Is What We Are For episode
(Here) In Your Arms by Hellogoodbye episode
Balaguer Woodman BB Baritone Guitar (Beau Burchell Artist Series)
This Is Pop Auto-Tune Episode on Netflix
Interview with Bert Poncet of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Songs of the week:
Losing My Mind by Angels & Airwaves
Marigold by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Hit us up online!
Arguments could be made that My Friends Over You, or even New Found Glory in general defined pop-punk as a genre and defined the goofy but not quite fart-punky music video. And trust me, we make those arguments.
Every frame of this video is packed with some zany leg flailing bit, mega heads, pizza deliveries, bigfoot feet, celebrity cameos, and even a few liberty spikes. It’s truly awesome and one of our favorite music videos of all time.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
My Friends Over You Music Video
Nathan’s Gold Spatula Photo on Twitter
Nirvana Butchering a Live Performance
Songs of the week:
Shouldn’t Matter But It Does by John Mayer
Complete You by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!
Hit us up online!
You’re stranded on a deserted island. Your plane went down leaving you stranded with nothing but a Sony Walkman and a shipment of CDs from the years 2000-2010. Why? I don’t know. Shut up…
This desert island draft has a twist! We each need to pick 10 albums to fit 10 scenarios that we find ourselves in on this island. From gathering provisions to building a structure, and hunt wild animals to celebrating the hunt, and of course the inevitable catastrophe and unveiled mystery of the island, there’s an album for everything.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Tom’s Ghost Stories on Patreon
Aladdin and the Cave of Cheeseburgers
Songs of the week:
Hypermania by Polaris
Firehawk by Justin Courtney Pierre
Hit us up online!
Good Charlotte (more like GREAT Charlotte, amiright? sorry.) had done what very few bands have managed to do, release their debut album with a major label. This record has a bit of everything, but what it possibly has the most of is a bunch of talking and introducing themselves on the opening track “Little Things”, which honestly we think they pull off pretty well.
In this episode, we break down the music video and tell stories about public school, and one time Tom gave an autographed school photo of himself to a celebrity for some unknown reason.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Little Things by Good Charlotte Music Video
Just the Girl by Click Five Music Video
Songs of the week:
Valhalla by ERRA
deja vu by Olivia Rodrigo
Hit us up online!
Bert Poncet, the singer of Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! stops by the talk about the songwriting and recording process of their new album Gone Are The Good Days.
Tom and Bert broke down in detail the recording process of their first self-produced album Something For Nothing, the Andrew Wade Remix, recording Pardon My French with Joey Sturgis, making Get Lost, Find Yourself with Kyle Black, and finally writing, recording, and self-producing Gone Are The Good Days.
It took 11 years to get back to self-producing a record. Bert says he’s learned a lot working with some legendary producers in the genre, but he was excited to get back to producing his own work since no one else has quite been able to capture the signature Chunk! sound.
We break down in extreme detail the writing and recording process of Bitter, we uncover some drum production strategies, exclusive info on upcoming plugins, a new type of guitar that the guys invented, and going to Fiverr for that legendary sax solo in Complete You.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Buy and Stream ‘Gone Are The Good Days’ NOW!!
Something For Nothing (Original Mix)
Something For Nothing (Andrew Wade Mix)
Gone Are The Good Days Music Video
Mixing, Mastering, and Songwriting with Alias Studio
Beau Burchell Woodman BB Baritone Guitar by Balaguer
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While they may be just on the fringes of what we talk about on the show, The Dangerous Summer are front and center in our hearts. In 2009 the band dropped one of the greatest albums of all time, Reach For the Sun. The award-winning album opener (I mean, we picked it in our album openers draft) Where I Want to be is the perfect amalgamation of angst, existential dread, and self-awareness that this band would become cherished for for albums and iterations to come… WITH DELAY PEDALS!
We talk about favorite memories of seeing the band live, how 3 new friends were made at their shows, favorite yard games, regrettable accessories, and the music video.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Where I Want To Be Music Video
Tom, Nick, AJ, and AJ singing on stage
Mike Henneberger on the podcast!
Rock Bottom at the Renaissance by Mike Henneberger
Tom’s dumb hair and hemp necklace
Songs of the week:
Masochist by Polaris
Leave the Door Open by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic
Hit us up online!
In anticipation of My Che—, err, Motion City Soundtrack’s upcoming 17 years of Commit This To Memory Tour, we draft our favorite MCS songs that were released between the years 2000-2010. What we were left with was a great playlist that you can stream on Apple Music and Spotify, but more importantly an even deeper understanding of how incredibly awesome and underrated this band is.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The Motion City Soundtrack Draft Playlist on Apple Music
The Motion City Soundtrack Draft Playlist on Spotify
Songs of the week:
Sexting by Bo Burnham
Clairvoyant (Lo-Fi version) by The Story So Far / MIK
Hit us up online!
The goth fever dream that is the music video for AFI’s Miss Murder gets a solid breakdown in this week’s episode. There’s rabbits. pieces of paper, super long bangs, “the masses”, more bangs, more rabbits, a castle, and a whole freakin other song!
There’s both a ton to talk about, and not much at the same time, so Tom offers an AnECdoTe about the time he had a rabbit for like a minute.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Saosin talking about fake amps backstage
Songs of the week:
Splash (feat. VIQ) by Hotel Pools
Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo
Hit us up online!
30 Seconds to Mars isn’t a band we typically think of when we go back to the emo well, but after seeing the music video for The Kill (Bury Me), it all makes sense. There’s movie references, creepy dudes in Tuxedos, women dripping in blood, gorilla suits, and eyeliner. Oh man, is there eyeliner.
While this isn’t a video you go to if you want to enjoy the song, the band really goes to great lengths to pay homage to a classic film and build a compelling story that may fail to tie up some loose ends at points, but ultimately delivers a very pleasant 4.5 minutes of visuals to accompany a very great song.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The Kill (Bury Me) Music Video
felt emo again might delete video feat. The Kill
Baskin Robbins ACAB Controversy
Songs of the week:
Bezos II by Bo Burnham
Tonight by Magnolia Park
Hit us up online!
The year is 2003, you and your best friend just walked home from your first day of 7th grade, there’s Capri Sun in the fridge, bagel bites in the freezer, and a new episode of Teen Girl Squad on homestarrrunner.com. You boot up the Gateway in the computer room and listen to the sweet sweet noise of calling the internet through copper wire.
After what feels like an eternity, you’re in.
You hear the familiar sounds of a creaky door opening, your friends list loads, and all of your loved ones are in one place, at the click of a button, on AOL Instant Messenger. But the bagel bites are still warm and we still need to find out where the frick Thomas the alien came from, so we throw on an away message… but there are so many options. So many cool songs.
What do we want our away message to say about us? What do we want our away message to say to others? To “the one”…. We draft those picks in this week’s episode.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The AIM Lyric Draft Playlist on Apple Music
The AIM Lyric Draft Playlist on Spotify
The Reason by Hoobastank episode
Songs of the week:
All Eyes on Me by Bo Burnham
Late Reply by Keep Flying
Hit us up online!
Shane Drake, legendary music video director for emo acts such as Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Hawthorne Heights, The Rocket Summer, and Forever the Sickest Kids stops by to answer all of our burning questions about what it was like to be on set with some of our biggest heroes.
We are honestly stunned this interview even happened, and we’re more shocked at the level of intimate detail he provided for each music video we talked about. There are tons of behind-the-scenes looks at everything from early 2000's screams acts like Underøath, all the way up to directing music videos for American Idol, and his transition into the country scene.
Tons of great detail that you won’t be able to find anywhere else, and I’m just not sure what life we’re living right now because this is undoubtedly the coolest thing to ever happen on the show.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Check out Shane Drake’s work below:
Shane’s Music Videos Mentioned:
-listen to the Pressure episode!
I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic! at the Disco
-listen to the I Write Sins Not Tragedies episode!
But It’s Better If You Do by Panic! at the Disco
Nine In The Afternoon by Panic! at the Disco
Ready To Go by Panic! at the Disco
Bullet to Binary by mewithoutyou
When the Sun Sleeps by Underøath
Ohio Is For Lovers by Hawthorne Heights
So Much Love by The Rocket Summer
-listen to the So Much Love episode!
Whoa Oh (Me vs Everyone) by Forever The Sickest Kids
-listen to the Whoa Oh (Me vs Everyone) episode!
-check out our article about the Whoa Oh music video!
The Queen and I by Gym Class Heroes
Hit us up online!
“In Ancient Chinese philosophy, yin and yang is a concept of dualism, describing how seemingly opposite or contrary forces may actually be complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they may give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another.” (source: Wikipedia, obviously)
There may be no other dualism like the song for Buried a Lie and the music video for Buried a Lie. The lyrics are intense, the stakes are high, and there’s been a murder. The music video on the other hand, while on paper follows the song to a T, reflects a kind of Scooby-Doo, daytime soap opera fever dream of sorts that is very entertaining to watch.
“The relationship between yin and yang is often described in terms of sunlight playing over a mountain and a valley.” If this video is the sun, the song is a valley of despair, but damn do they make one handsome mountain scene or whatever.
Links:
Songs of the week:
Kno U by Origami Angel
Bitter by Chunk! No, Captain Chunk
When The Upsides dropped in 2010, Tom and Pat’s world changed forever. Many nights were spent at terrible diners, across from a smoker’s section that did absolutely nothing to block smoke from traveling through the open air right into our scrambled eggs, talking about a pop punk band from South Philly and how it can’t possibly get any better than this.
We dive into the music video for Melrose Diner and break down every scene of this glorious reel of film that features the crazy talented and super hilarious Charlie Sexton.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
MTV Is Over, If You Want It by We Are the Union
Living Room Song Acoustic Live Video
Songs of the week:
Bring Me Down by We Sere Sharks
Phone’s Dead by Stage Moms
Hidden Colors by Broadside
Hit us up online!
A few years back we said something regrettable about Cartel, so this week we try and set the record straight. Cartel is straight up one of the greatest bands alive, and everyone, including ourselves, has slept on them for way too long. From the sensible jeans to the dope riffs, the backwards drum sets to the final chorus (but slower), Cartel slays and we don’t give a freakin heck what your mom says. Put some respect on the name.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Say Anything (Else) on AOL Sessions Live
Wonderwall on AOL Sessions Live
Pepto Bismol by Consume the Virus
Songs of the week:
Dying to Know by Justin Courtney Pierre
1950 by King Princess
Hit us up online!
Things in the scene started to take a turn around 2007. Punk went crunk, and for a while, there was no stopping it. However, some bands tried to ride the line between the two, and we think that no one did it better than 3OH!3. That’s not to say we enjoy 3OH!3, but they at least made the biggest waves.
Resting somewhere between Attack! Attack! and Brokencyde, 3OH!3 made a space for themselves on the Warped Tour stage where they allegedly met and became close friends with Katy Perry of all people. The 3 of them teamed up in the music video for “Starstrukk” and things got wet.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
Starstrukk by 3OH!3 Music Video
Behind the Scenes Video of Starstrukk
Katy Perry performing I Kissed a Girl at Warped Tour 2008
Songs of the week:
20/20 by Knuckle Puck
Echoing by Kings of Leon
Hit us up online!
2005 was possibly the best year ever for emo music. It certainly was the best year for Fueled by Ramen, as their roster graced us with several masterpieces like All We Know Is Falling. Pressure will remain one of the angstiest, most soul crushing songs in Paramore’s catalog, and even as grown men, it slays our souls.
This week we cover the music video, Tom’s 2007 Warped Tour experience, long nights alone in your mom’s basement, bad jobs, and quitting bad jobs.
BONUS EPISODES AND PHOTOS ON PATREON!
Links:
The All We Know Is Falling Episode
Quitting a Job with a Barbershop Quartet
Songs of the week:
We’re Good by Dua Lipa
Love Story (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift
Hit us up online!
