#can someone make a compilation of repertoire but only the bits where were pretty sure it’s james’ friends laughing. for me :)

[callixton]

it’s a good thing just puddings is funny otherwise we’d have to generally acknowledge that it’s exactly one step removed from kink content and no further. but the bit works well enough that we can close our eyes to that possibility. unless you’re into it in which case congratulations on your good luck

[thisaintascenereviews]

Album Review by Bradley Christensen Envy On The Coast – Lucy Gray Record Label: Photo Finish Release Date: August 7 2007

Envy On The Coast should have blown up in 2007. This band was poised for stardorm in the alternative, emo, and post-hardcore scene, but they never took off, for whatever reason. I came across this band around 2007, because I heard an acoustic version of “Tell Them That She’s Not Scared,” a song from their debut LP, Lucy Gray. I picked the album soon after, and I fell in love with it. My copy’s a little beat up, especially in the case, because I wasn’t too careful with my CDs back in the day, but it’s got some character to it. That’s what I always say about my CDs that are cracked in any way, but I’m getting off topic. Envy On The Coast are a good example of a band that deserved much, much better than the treatment they were given in the scene. Not that this band was treated unfairly, but they never got as huge as they should have. I think that could be for a couple of reasons – they were either slept on for being too “weird” in their scene, or they were just lost in a sea of other bands. The latter seems more likely, as the early to mid-00s were rife with post-hardcore, emo, and alt-rock bands trying to be the next My Chemical Romance, but a lot of bands got sidelined. Recently I’ve been talking about some bands that were rather underrated, such as Aiden, but Envy On The Coast was a special breed of band. The other reason that I could theorize as to why they’re rather underrated is that they were a bit too “weird” for the post-hardcore scene. Part of why I love Lucy Gray is because of how diverse, unique, and interesting it is. Hell, you can even go as far to say that my love for unique and diverse bands / albums comes from this album. If it weren’t for listening to albums like this, Fall Out Boy’s Infinity On High, or AFI’s Decemberunderground, all albums that had a lot of different things going on within it, I could very well be one of those music fans that only yearns for the “older stuff,” as well as hates any band that changes their sound slightly.

I’m not trying to say that their sound was super weird, out there, or inaccessible, but they were out of the ordinary in their scene. They weren’t your average post-hardcore band. They played with elements of prog-rock, alt-rock, post-hardcore, pop-punk, and emo, just to name a handful of styles. This band was all over the place with their sound, and I wonder if that’s why people kind of passed them on by, because they were ahead of their time. I mean, look at bands like I The Mighty, Too Close To Touch, and Hands Like Houses, since their sounds are very much rooted in prog-rock and post-hardcore, ultimately going out of the norm for what post-hardcore bands have always been. They’re veering away from the emo influence, and more so into an experimental, progressive, and versatile style. Envy On The Coast was doing that ten years earlier. Their sound is very different, versatile, and unique. The best part is, too, it all works. Lucy Gray is a damn near flawless album. Every aspect of this album hits a home run. Starting with its sound, as that’s the best part of the album, these guys are some of the most unique, versatile, diverse, and interesting musicians I’ve ever heard. Throughout its 49 minutes, this LP has a lot of different ideas, sounds, and moods. Some tracks are more energetic, some are more somber, and some are a mix of the two. For every short, sweet, and energetic track you have, such as “Vultures, “Sugar Skulls,” and “Mirrors,” you have some weirder tracks that go on a musical journey, such as “Artist And Repertoire,” ‘The Gift Of Paralysis,” or “Tell Them That She’s Not Scared.” The last handful of tracks are more on the ballad, somber, and slow-burning side, which is one of the minor issues I have with this LP. The LP kind of loses its momentum by the end, especially after the first two-thirds are pretty energetic, but the momentum kind of just stops. They’re still good songs, though, so it doesn’t ruin the album at all.

The album does a great job of keeping your attention, at least in terms of the sound, because there’s a lot happening at any given time. The album never gets boring, despite what I said about the momentum being lost a bit by the end. The album’s tone just changes dramatically, and I don’t know if it fully recovers from that. Either way, though, the vocals and lyrics on this record are fantastic. I absolutely love them. I love the vocals for the same reason that I love the instrumentation – they’re well done, diverse, interesting, and versatile. There are some “heavier” tracks on this album, with minimal screaming, but it’s handled very well. Whether it’s on an energetic track, heavier track, softer track, or somber track, the vocals are great, one way or another. It’s rare to hear a vocalist with such talent, expression, power, and control. There’s a lot of range in the vocals, and while I’m never listened to their sophomore album, because I lost touch with the band after this album (this was years before I fully utilized the Internet for discovering music), I’m sure the vocals are even better. The lyrics are great, too, though. There are some melodramatic and over the top lines, but there are some very poignant ones, too. My favorite track, lyrically, is hands down “Tell Them That She’s Not Scared.” This is a very powerful track, and the first track I ever heard from this album (the acoustic version, no less, like I said, which makes the song even more emotional), but it’s about the vocalist’s mother battling cancer. The song makes a lot of references to faith, angels, Heaven, and how they’re battling for his mother’s life. It’s a very touching, powerful, and emotional song. I know I just spoke highly of this album in a recent review, but this song makes My Chemical Romance’s “Cancer,” which appears on The Black Parade, look like a child wrote it. It’s one hell of a track, but the rest of the album is very interesting, too. It’s a very well-written, poetic, and interesting record, lyrically speaking, which is not something you hear too much in this scene.

The only problem that I have with this album is, like I said, its tone is very weird towards the end, but it’s not like the quality suffers. I can see someone getting pulled out of the album, especially if you’re not into ballads. I’m not, honestly, but the songs are pretty good. It does pick up slightly, just not enough to recapture the spark that it had throughout the first two-thirds. Either way, though, this album is killer. Envy On The Coast should have blown up a lot more. I don’t remember them being that huge. I mean, they were on a really cool compilation album that Alternative Press put out in 2007. It was a “back to school” compilation they put out on CD that I got at Target, and that’s how I found a ton of bands on there. I came across bands like Chiodos, Bayside, and tons more. I still have that CD, too, so I should dig it out at some point. Anyway, this band kind of blew up in the scene, but not anywhere close to where other bands did. They didn’t even become a scene favorite, either, and I wish they did, because they were awesome. Lucy Gray is a great album. Back when I first got it, I thought it was awesome, and even now, ten years later, it’s a great album. It’s rare to find albums this great (well, you just need to know where to look), but there are some bands that never got the recognition that they deserve. This is one of those bands, sadly. If I never picked up that Alt Press compilation (for the record, I think they only made one of those, because I don’t remember seeing any more of them; I got one in 2007, and then I never heard about them again), I never would have heard of this band. They never got the recognition they deserved, but that doesn’t mean I can’t stop recommending them to people (I did that with my best friend Jake, actually, and I’m glad that he’s been enjoying the album), hoping that they’ll get some recognition later on. Some bands do get more popular when they break up, after all, even though I think Envy On The Coast are back together, but I don’t really know what’s going on with that.