#like. going off the pop punk genre and just. making it better with everything they can do now. that's all that i ask

[edge-oftheworld]

i don't care about everything else I've said about it so far. I need a pop punk 5sos6

[chimneyz]

Blue Christmas

A sharp blade of sunlight stabbed through the blackout curtains right into Tommy's eyes, it was unbearable enough to wake him from his slumber. In a groggy groan, Tommy shifted his body, facing away from the sunlight, pulling the blankets over his head cocooning himself in darkness once more. A sharp pain drilled into his brain making it throb against his skull. The pressure from it makes it feel as if his brain formed thumbs pressing against the back of his eyes trying their damndest to push them out of his head. A botched lobotomy would have been better than his. The stale taste of last night's alcohol coated his tongue, it was bitter. 

Tommy probably had too much to drink last night. It was all just one big blur, that has been happening more frequently... after... after everything. On his nights off Tommy spent his time at his favorite bar, a small little hole in the wall that was never crowded and always playing music from the post-punk genre from the late 70s and 80s. He either spent his time alone moping in the corner or with Sal who would sit there, listen to him and every once in a while offer a friendly pat on the back. Last night he spent it alone. He didn't have to spend it alone, yet he did. 

Sal gave him a last minute invite last week to his house for Christmas Eve. 

"You should come, Tommy," Sal said to him, patting his back. "Don't spend Christmas Eve here. Claire is making her famous chocolate caramel fudge." 

"I'll pop by." Tommy sipped his beer leaning onto the bar counter. 

He lied. 

He will make it up to Sal and Claire some other time. 

With the throbbing pain burrowed into his head, Tommy wondered if he drank more than he usually did. No, he didn’t have to wonder, he knew he did. 

Christmas was the one time of year he always hated. Well, that and the Fourth of July. Fuck the Fourth of July. 

Hate was an understatement, Tommy loathed Christmas. Despised it with every fiber of his being. He didn't remember a time when he didn't like the holiday. His feelings about it changed and evolved as he got older but he never liked it. As a kid his house became more unbearable, everything had to be perfect, and it never was. Not for his father at least. Somehow it was the one time of year he actually was home most of the time. His father had to show everyone that they weren't in his words: "The white trash family that everyone believes us to be, we will show them... all of them." 

Tommy still didn’t know who the ‘them’ even was.

His father's temper became more heated, more violent. Tommy couldn't count how many times he watched his mother lock herself away in the bedroom and weep.

Not only did his house become unbearable, Tommy would watch all the other families on his street be happy. Actually happy. Being happy on Christmas was a foreign concept to Tommy. How the fuck can people be happy on Christmas? 

When Tommy joined the army time wasn't an actual concept many hadn’t had the luxury to afford. Tommy never really knew the time. He forgot about the holiday altogether. Tommy could count on one hand what he was thankful for about the army. Not dealing with Christmas was one. The other, it got him out of that fucking house. 

Once Tommy was discharged, he moved to LA, he never wanted to see snow again. The beginning of snow signified to him the beginning of the dreaded holiday. The only issue with moving to a place with no snow, people tend to go a little crazy with their lights and decorations. Tommy always figured it was to compensate for the lack of snow. His first Christmas in LA wasn't bad, but it wasn’t good. He was looking forward to being alone for once. He just didn't expect it to be just as overwhelming as spending it at home with his family. The silence was just too loud. After a couple of years, the silence became deafening. Luckily by that time Tommy was already a firefighter, and his schedule was always not what most would consider normal. Tommy actually took the time to work on the holiday to not be fully alone. However, the loneliness still ate at him from the inside. 

But this year, this year was going to be different.  

"Hey my sister and Chim are throwing a party this year for Christmas, wanna be my date?" Evan smiled at him, it was brighter than the fucking sun. 

Tommy looked up at Evan's now boil-free face. Tommy should have known the conversation would happen at some point, Halloween was over and most people already started at least thinking about Christmas the day after. Tommy scooched up closer to his face, his entire body lying on top of Evan. It became his favorite place to sleep, on top of him with Evan's arms wrapped around him, his head lying softly on Evan's chest listening to his heartbeat. He now looked directly into Evan's big blue mesmerizing eyes pondering what to say. 

"I-If you don't want to you don't have to - o-or if you have plans already with your family. You haven't said much about them so I wasn't sure if you are still on speaking terms or-" 

Tommy moved closer, cradling Evan's face with both of his hands gently kissing his lips. "Yes," Tommy smiled, "I will go with you." 

Evan stared at him with awe. He could have sworn he saw fucking starlight in there. Tommy relished in the way Evan looked at him after every single kiss. That starlight never dulled, not even once. 

"Ok, good." Evan rested his head against this pillow smitten, holding on to Tommy a little tighter. 

"Also last I checked you called me your boyfriend, don't you think it's a bit middle school to ask for me to be your date for your sister's Christmas party?" Tommy teased, his mouth morphing into a smirk.

Evan playfully swats at Tommy, his body shaking from a giggle he was trying to hide. 

Tommy rested his head back on Evan's heart. Maybe this year will be different. 

Tommy clutched his pillow close, freezing under the mountain of blankets, the lack of Evan's heartbeat ached Tommy’s chest. His head was still pounding away relentlessly. Not that it mattered, he was alone. He wondered if he deserved the pain throbbing between his temples. 

 A wave of nausea washed over Tommy, quickly he scrambled out of his cocoon of blankets running over quickly to the ensuite bathroom. Hunching over the toilet throwing up whatever alcohol and bile was twisting his stomach into knots. Aching from vomiting, Tommy rested his sweaty body against the cool tile floor panting. 

"Fuck Christmas," he mumbled. 

After a while, Tommy finally got up, maybe eating something would help. His footsteps echoed throughout his empty home. Tommy’s home was small, Evan called it cozy, but right now it felt endlessly large and cold. He hated his house, he hated that he hated it. Tommy spent years fixing it up into something of his own, now it felt like it didn't belong to him, that he wasn't 

Once in the kitchen, Tommy opens the fridge, a cool breeze rushes through. To his dismay, there was hardly anything edible in his fridge. Tommy shouldn't be surprised, he hardly bought anything at the grocery store, he hardly ate since... since fucking up his own life. His head pounded, it was getting harder to ignore. Grabbing one of the very few water bottles in his fridge and a bottle of Excedrin, Tommy takes the pills and gulps them down with water. He didn't care that he hasn't eaten, he didn’t care that the meds might fuck up his stomach later, he needed to eliminate that headache fast. 

Tommy’s eyes looked around the cold empty house, not a Christmas decoration in sight. As big as the house felt, the walls closed in around him. It was getting harder to breathe. Why was it getting harder to breathe? What if he was going to wind up dead in this fucking house alone? Would anyone miss him? Would he even miss himself? Life would go on and on, not even realizing he died, alone, in this stupid fucking house. Tommy knew he wasn't going to die soon, he was fit, healthy, went to the doctors, he was fine. Yeah sure, fine. Totally and completely fine... in this cold empty house.

He needed to get out of there, fast. 

He didn't care that he was in his joggers and Evan's hoodie (in which he left behind months ago). Tommy quickly grabbed his boots, wallet, sunglasses, and keys, not even making an effort to tie the laces, and headed straight for the front door. 

After shutting the front door behind him he let out a sigh of relief, of fresh air, as if the air in the house were poisonous to his lungs. Even with the sunglasses shielding his eyes, the sun was still too bright for him to see. Tommy’s eyes eventually landed on a crushed box in front of his doorstep. A small white box with crumbs spilling out of the broken edges. Ants crawled all over it, feasting on whatever was inside. Tommy tilted his head, curious about the mystery box in front of him. From the footprint on the box, all Tommy could assume was he stepped on it last night, too drunk from the bar to realize there was something waiting for him when he got home. He crouched down to the box lifting the lid. Broken crumbled Christmas cookies filled the tiny box. Sal must have left this here last night. Maybe Claire made cookies instead of her chocolate caramel fudge this year. 

Tommy lifted what he could and threw it in the trash can at the edge of his driveway, whipping away the crumbs from his hand. Before closing the lid, Tommy caught the little note taped to the box. To Tommy was written in familiar handwriting, Evan's handwriting. Tommy quickly shut the lid, a nauseating pit formed in his stomach.

Christmas music echoes throughout the shopping isles of the grocery store. The wheels of the shopping cart squealed as they rolled along the linoleum. Tommy could only count a few others that were actually shopping. Talking his time - with nothing else to do - Tommy slowly strolled through the store looking at every little thing. It wasn't until he reached the produce aisle when Tommy abruptly stopped, the soles of his shoes speaking on the linoleum. He looked down at the variety of mushrooms before him. 

"Which mushrooms should I choose, Tommy?" 

Tommy turns to find Evan looking down at the mushrooms. Evan's eyebrows furrowed, his hands on his hips. Tommy watched as Evan bit down on his bottom lip contemplating. Tommy loved how Evan looked while contemplating. 

Tommy loved Evan, he didn’t say it out loud but he loved him. He has for a while now, but it really didn't click until that day in the graveyard. He hoped the basketball tickets he bought just a couple hours ago showed his love. He was a little nervous about their six-month anniversary, he wasn't sure why. He hoped the tickets conveyed how much their relationship meant to him. It was how this whole thing started, right? 

"Which do you think morel or chanterelle?" Evan asked. 

"Uh, I am not sure," Evan chuckled, "What's the difference?" 

"Well morels have this smokey nutty flavor, chanterelles on the other hand have this somewhat fruity flavor. I just can't decide what would be better for this orzo recipe. It has to be perfect." 

"Evan hon' it's just orzo it doesn't have to be perfect. Besides, Maddie and Howie will be happy with whatever you bring for the Christmas party." 

"Yes it does," Evan looked at him. "It’s my first Christmas with you, it has to be perfect." 

Tommy’s heart swelled. 

"Evan..." Tommy kissed the birthmark above Evan's eyebrow, "All I need is you for it to be perfect." 

Tears stung Tommy’s eyes, the memory making him ache. 

Quickly he wheeled the cart away, unable to look at mushrooms the same now. He quickly got the things he intended to get in the first place, a package of chocolate chip cookie dough and a small tub of cream cheese frosting. He didn't know why he took so long in the store, nor did he know why he took a shopping cart for two items. Maybe it was to stall time, to lean on something, to ground him. 

From the speakers the soothing sounds of Wham! sung a little tune. 

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart 

But the very next day, you gave it away

This year, to save me from tears

I'll give it to someone special

"You have got to be fucking kidding me right now." 

Tommy couldn’t get out of that grocery store fast enough. 

Tommy stared up at the screen above him, Babygirl, Wicked, Nosferatu. So many choices on the screen it made his headache again. The package of cookie dough tapped onto his thigh. 

"What would have the least Christmas spirit?" Tommy looked down at the board teen. 

"I don't know man," she said, not really looking up from her book. 

"Wouldn't you've seen these movies?"

"Just because I work here doesn't mean I have seen any of them." 

Tommy slumped down into the movie theater chair with his extra large cherry lime Icee slush, a large popcorn (extra butter), his package of cookie dough, and cream cheese frosting. He must admit he was surprised that the workers let him walk in with food. But he probably looked as he felt, like shit. Nobody really wants to talk to you when you look like you are going through hell, especially during the holidays. 

Eventually, Tommy landed on Nosferatu, it seemed the safest bet, even though Tommy hated horror movies. Couldn't stand them. He always found himself to be anxious and jumpy after every single one he has watched. He never got that much sleep after a horror movie. But maybe that is what he needed, to be anxious and jumpy, to keep his mind off of things, to preoccupy. And the whole not being able to sleep after horror movies... Well, it wasn't like he was getting that much sleep to begin with these days. His bed was too cold without Evan. 

"Babe?"

Tommy flinched, the mattress sunk down next to him as Evan sat next to him, his eyes filled with concern.

"Are you alright? You've been biting your nails a lot tonight?" 

Tommy removed his fingernails from his teeth, he didn’t even realize he was doing it. It was a bad habit he had since he was a kid. His father practically yelled at him about it more times than he could count. Only pussies bite their nails. That is what his father always said. He picked up the habit again while in the army. Luckily it only became a habit when he was anxious. Tonight seemed to be one of those nights. 

"Sorry," Tommy mumbled. 

"Hey, you don't need to be," Evan inched closer, "What's going on inside that head of yours?" 

Tommy sighed slumping his shoulders down, "I hate horror movies Evan, I am sorry I just do. I know you wanted to do this marathon of thirteen movies for thirteen nights but... I just can't stand them. They make me anxious and I can't relax after watching them. I am so sorry." 

"Hey," Evan cupped Tommy’s face pulling him to look right at Evan, "Don't be sorry, we don't have to do it if you don't like it ok?" 

Tommy nodded. 

"Now," Evan smirked, "Let's see how I can distract you." 

"Distract me?" 

Evan hummed as he pulled down the waistband of Tommy’s briefs. 

"Oh," Tommy hummed. 

"Let me grab the lube, and I'll make you forget every scary little thing." 

"You better," Tommy giggled.

Tommy watched the credits roll, he wished he did have a distraction, a good one, to keep the thoughts in his mind at bay. It was too bad that the perfect distraction probably wanted nothing to do with him now.

By the time Tommy left the movie theater, darkness covered the night sky. He got into his truck and left. Tommy didn’t want to go home, not yet. Not to the empty cold unwelcoming house. But where else would he go? Nowhere. Usually, on days like these, he'd sit down and watch Love, Actually and forget about the world around him. But not today, actually not even in the whole month of December. He never could get through the whole thing in December. 

The loneliness was eating away at him. He didn't know how much longer he could take it, the loneliness was becoming too loud, too unbearable. 

As Tommy drove down his street he looked through every house with lights wondering if the families inside were happy. Wondering why his family never was. Even the houses with no Christmas decor still felt warm and welcoming. But not his. Something was different though, someone was there, right at his doorstep. 

"Evan?" 

Tommy pulled his car into his driveway killing the engine. Evan fumbled with the large paper cards in his hands cursing under his breath as he picked them up. Tommy shut the car door unsure how Evan hasn't noticed him yet. The noise from the car door made Evan jump up, looking at Tommy with his big blue eyes, his cheeks growing pink. 

"Uh, h-hey Tommy." Evan rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Evan, what are you doing here?" 

"I uh," Evan gestured to the large cards sprawled on the ground. "I wanted to do something... well. You love Love, Actually so much I thought that this would be-" Evan's cheeks morphed from pink to red. "I-It’s stupid." 

"It's not stupid," Tommy chuckled. "It’s adorable." 

"R-Really?"

Tommy hummed, walking a bit closer to Evan. 

"The last one was going to ask if you could be my date to Maddie and Chim's Christmas party." Evan smiled.

"Evan, I... I can't..." his voice trailed off to a mumble. 

"Why? It's not like you have any plans." 

Tommy winced at Evan's words. 

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to, that was..." Evan pressed his lips together thinly, his shoulders stiff, "Uncalled for." 

"Evan I don't know if that would work," Tommy murmured darting his eyes away and crossing his arms, "I hurt you. I am sorry for that but I did it anyway. How could you know I wouldn't hurt you again?" 

Evan sighed, he inched closer to Tommy wrapping his arms around Tommy’s biceps squeezing them gently. "I don't... but that doesn't mean we should fight for this. Tommy, I went over what you said that night over and over on an endless loop. You wanted this just as much as I do, don't turn your back on this. On us." 

"Evan, I am nobody's last, I am not someone people love unconditionally, that's just now who I am."

"You're wrong Tommy," Evan said, determination flaring in his eyes, "I love you. I love the good, the bad. Every single bit of you. You are loveable. Whether you are with me or not I will always love you, no matter what."

Tommy could feel the tears forming around his eyes. 

"I wish you will choose to be with me," Evan whispered. 

"Evan..." Tommy's voice cracked, "I-I have so much shit to work through." 

"So do I. But let's not do it apart when we can deal with it together." 

"The last time I let someone get in this close... it fucking shattered me. It took me years to pick up the pieces. I don't know if I can do that again."

"Are you not hurting now?" 

Tommy huffed, "Of course I am, but-" 

"Tommy I cannot predict the future, everything could work out for the both of us. We could die horribly tomorrow. Who knows? But can we just focus on the present and walk our path to the future together?" 

"I am so sick and tired of being alone."

"I know." Evan moved his hand up holding Tommy’s cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "Please don't be alone tonight. We can talk later but don't be alone tonight." 

"You have no idea how much I wanted you by my side, how much I've missed you, how much I needed you." 

"I think I have somewhat of an idea. You are calling me Evan again." Tommy's face felt warm, burning even. "You have no idea how much I needed you Tommy, how much I still need you." 

Evan brought Tommy in closer, pressing his lips against Tommy's gently kissing him. Tommy missed this, needed this, craved this. He wrapped his hands around Evan's waist kissing back desperately needing Evan more than air itself. The kiss went from gentle to passionate making up for lost time, both hungry - no, starving - for each other. 

Both parted gasping for air, Tommy watched Evan's eyes glitter from the stars above.

"I want to figure this out by your side, If you will let me." Tommy whispered. 

"Of course," Evan kissed the center of Tommy’s forehead, "Merry Christmas Tommy."

Tommy chuckled, "Merry Christmas Evan." 

Maybe this Christmas was going to be different after all.

[thisaintascenereviews]

Let’s Talk About Patrick Stump’s Solo Career: Soul Punk Is An Underrated Classic

Patrick Stump of the pop-punk band Fall Out Boy is my favorite vocalist of all time. I’ve had to think about that for many years, because there are tons of amazing singers out there from all genres. Rob Halford, Sam Cooke, Frank Sinatra, and many more are great singers, but Patrick Stump has always stuck out to me. His voice started off relatively rough around the edges on their early material, but you can hear the makings of a killer vocalist on 2003’s Take This To Your Grave. Throughout the next few years, his vocals would get better and better. They would finally culminate on 2007’s Infinity On High and 2008’s Folie A Deux, where he could show the world that he’s the best pop-punk vocalist and his vocals were frankly better than the genre. That’s why when Fall Out Boy went on hiatus in 2009, Stump pursued a solo career that a lot of people were somehow surprised by, but they shouldn’t have been surprised if you were paying attention – R&B, soul, and funk. Fall Out Boy’s last couple of albums before their hiatus had traces of R&B, soul, and funk, but Stump’s solo career went full-fledged into it. I wanted to talk about Stump’s brief solo career, because I’ve been going back to some Fall Out Boy records, and his solo material is something I haven’t heard in a long time. I just talked about 2008’s Folie A Deux, as well as posted a ranked episode of their albums that’s updated for the year of our lord 2025, but I kind of wanted to post retrospectives of almost everything. I’ve talked about Infinity On High a million times, so I don’t know if I’ll talk about that one again, but I’ve got From Under The Cork Tree, Save Rock & Roll, So Much (For) Stardust, and Take This To Your Grave left to talk about.

Stump’s solo career is also incredibly interesting, because people were not receptive to it whatsoever, despite his debut solo album, Soul Punk, being one of my favorite pop records of all time. I haven’t listened to Soul Punk in quite a long time, but I’ve been going back to it recently, and it’s a killer record. Soul Punk is also a severely underrated record, but I don’t think fans were ready for a Patrick Stump solo album. Fans already hated Folie A Deux for some reason, and I still haven’t figured out why. Maybe it’s because it wasn’t a pop-punk record, but Infinity On High wasn’t, either. I think that album had just enough of their older sound to appease fans, but Folie A Deux went fully into pop-rock. Soul Punk, unfortunately, went further into pop, soul, R&B, and funk, and people just didn’t like it. Stump got so much backlash at solo shows, he eventually disappeared for a year out of the public eye, and penned a scathing blog post towards fans in which he said, “they liked him better fat.” It’s such an ugly display from fans, but like with Folie, fans have come around to the album. There’s a lot to really love and appreciate on this record, whether it’s Stump’s vocals, the lyrics, the instrumentation, or the production, especially because he did it all himself. This is a 100% self-made record. The only guest spot on the album is Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco on a remix of lead single “This City.” I had never heard his verse until recently, because I decided to check out the deluxe edition of the album, and it’s okay, frankly. It’s a very simplistic verse from him, especially compared to his usual fare, but it wasn’t half bad. The rest of the album, however, is all Stump. He wrote, produced, and played on the record all by himself.

Because Stump is a producer and multi-instrumentalist, I’m not surprised that the instrumentation and production is fantastic here. This album is so full-bodied, and nothing gets overshadowed by anything else. You can hear his vocals just as well as the instrumentation, but I love it. The most interesting part of this album are his lyrics, because Stump was never a lyricist in Fall Out Boy. That was Pete Wentz, the band’s bassist, and he has such a unique and distinct lyrical style, but do Stump’s lyrics reach the same level of cleverness, memorability, and uniqueness? No, but he has a different writing style that’s a lot more direct, earnest, and straightforward, all the while still being memorable and enjoyable. Songs like “Dance Miserable,” “The ‘I’ In Lie,” “Run Dry,” and “Coast (It’s Gonna Get Better)” are pretty straightforward tracks, but the lyrics are very earnest and heartfelt. They express ideas that people can relate to, whether it’s sobriety, unfaithfulness, depression, or just staying positive. This record is also insanely catchy, as Stump has an ear for melody. He always has, especially with Fall Out Boy; albums like Folie A Deux and Infinity On High have some of their best melodies, but even on their post-hiatus material, a lot of their melodies are relatively strong.

While I like a lot of the melodies on 2013’s Save Rock & Roll and 2015’s American Beauty / American Psycho, 2018’s M A N I A and 2023’s So Much (For) Stardust have some of their strongest hooks, especially in the latter. So Much (For) Stardust is their best album since Folie, and it’s in my top three of Fall Out Boy albums because it reminds me so much of Infinity On High and Folie. It has that pop-punk spirit, but it also has the R&B, soul, and funk sounds that Patrick really liked back in 2007 / 2008, and it modernizes it for 2023. I just really love Soul Punk, because I had wanted a solo record from Patrick for years, but the one we got was a pleasant surprise. I hadn’t really listened to pop music at the time, but I credit this record and Michael Jackson’s Thriller with getting me into pop music. I first got into music at an interesting time, because pop music was in a weird place. The club boom was happening, and artists were making really generic, boring, and uninteresting dance-pop that appealed to the lowest common denominator. As a teenager at the time, it just didn’t interest me, so I had to go back into the past to get more into pop music. Patrick Stump’s Soul Punk was a perfect glimpse into the past, but still being modern and new at the same time. If anything, I think this album has aged like fine wine, because it has an 80s pop, R&B, and soul aesthetic that The Weeknd co-opted just a few years ago on Dawn FM, so I think Stump was ahead of his time in being influenced by Michael Jackson, Prince, and the like.

I also went ahead and listened to the deluxe edition of Soul Punk, because I had never listened to the bonus tracks before, and while I can see why they’re bonus tracks, I still really enjoyed them. It was just great to hear Patrick on his own for once, but you can’t deny the magic that the four members of Fall Out Boy share when they make music together. It was still cool for Patrick to make a solo record, and out of the solo work that the members put out during their hiatus, Soul Punk is my favorite. I will say, though, that drummer Andy Hurley and Joe Trohman had a heavy metal band with members of Anthrax and Every Time I Die called The Damned Things, and that was a close second. Their debut from 2010 is an absolute banger of a record, and their follow-up in 2019 was pretty solid, too. Soul Punk is easily my favorite of the solo projects that the band put out when they were separated, but it’s an underrated masterpiece, nonetheless. Like with Folie A Deux, I don’t know why people hated this so much. Maybe it was since this was unashamedly a pop record, but why is that a bad thing? I think fans were so used to the band putting out pop-punk stuff, they didn’t like the fact that they were moving forward and moving out of that scene. Some bands can make it work by playing the same type of music throughout their whole careers, such as Blink-182, New Found Glory, and some other mainstays of the scene, but Fall Out Boy were a cut above the rest by wanting to expand and experiment. Sure, their post-hiatus material is very much pop-rock and even leans into Imagine Dragons-level arena-rock / pop-rock by American Beauty / American Psycho, it was different and not just retreading the past. So Much (For) Stardust was a great culmination of everything they did prior to that, even including some of Soul Punk, but Soul Punk itself is such a great record, and it’s criminally underrated, even 14 years later.

[spacedewey]

I felt like playing random roulette and babbling about music for awhile again. So, behold, 10 random selections from my 56,307 song music library.

Aby Wolf, "Intentions," Wolf Lords, 2013.

Oh man. Like basically this whole album, a super slow burn, shimmering, atmospheric, gorgeous thing. This record, man. No one knows it. Aby Wolf isn't a big deal outside of Minneapolis. I don't even live there, I found out about her through association with the more widely known singer/rapper/etc, Dessa. But let me tell you. I saw Aby Wolf perform joints from this album in a tiny, tiny room in New Orleans when it came out, and it was staggering. Listen to that song. Now imagine hearing it loud as fuck in a tiny space. It was mesmerizing. I wanted to live in it. This album still gets me every time.

Kendrick Lamar, "Compton Chemistry," C4, 2009.

The wild, hungry young Kendrick people don't know, back when he was K-Dot. Already his 4th mixtape at 22, and if we're being honest, his first good one. A pretty funny song, in the end, instructions on how to cook crack from someone who never did it, and he makes a point to mention he has that in common with a lot of rappers in the end. Featuring Ab-Soul as the dope dealer guy in the background. The days when those 2 were inseparable are still my favorite. And built from a sample of David Axelrod's classic "Holy Thursday." Very nice.

Elvis Costello, "Chewing Gum," Spike, 1989.

Well, certainly not my favorite off that album, but not bad. The horns are fun. Spike is such a weird record. In a good way, but weird. Kind of all over the place, a declaration of independence after the Attractions finally split up. Some of Costello's all-time "wait, that earworm pop song is about what??" compositions, which is saying a lot. Good stuff.

Sham 69, "Borstal Breakout," Tell Us The Truth, 1978.

I mean, that's just fun, right? Some people say that album and that song in particular kicked off hardcore, as a genre. It still sounds awfully punk to me, personally, but I've never been the best as assigning genres. But, whatever it is, hard to deny the energy.

Big KRIT, "Handwriting," 4eva N A Day, 2012.

I was a latecomer to KRIT, and in fact, this mixtape was my introduction, thanks to a mutual sharing it on this very webbed site. A loose concept album with a "day in the life" conceit, it starts and ends with alarm clocks going off, and follows KRIT through all kinds of situations. Excellent, top to bottom. KRIT has always walked an uneasy path between music of substance and fun bangers. He's not always found the right balance. This mixtape was one of the times he nailed it. This one in particular is pretty heavy.

Alicia Keys, "Wreckless Love," As I Am, 2007.

I'll be honest here: starting with her first record, I bought a lot of Alicia Keys albums before I finally admitted to myself the singles were usually way better than the rest and I didn't really need them. Her stuff could be a lot of fun. "No One" off this album is undeniable. But most of her songs are pretty generic and forgettable. Is there anything particularly wrong with this song? Not really. Did I remember it before it came up? Also no. Not everyone is an album artist. Fun song, tho.

At the Gates, "Forever Blind," Terminal Spirit Disease, 1994.

At the Gates on the precipice. Their next album, Slaughter of the Soul, is either the best or worst thing that ever happened to Melodic Death Metal, depending on who you ask, which is kind of hilarious. It's the album that launched the genre from an obscure thing happening in Sweden to a global strain of metal still going strong today. It's also derided as a simplified, "sell out" album by purists. It's the "Metallica's Black Album" of melodic death metal. But all that was a year from now. No matter who you ask, this was them at the height of their powers in the fledgling genre they helped create. The raw aggression paired with the soaring dual guitars changed everything.

Yani Mo, "Truth or Dare," The Moment, 2017.

Well, well. I found out about Yani right here on tumblr.com. She was one of a really amazing crop of young hip hop artists on this site in the early 2010s. It was such a fun time, following these artists, watching them grow and improve. It's the era of tumblr I miss the most. Hailing from ATL, Yani Mo dealt in a bright, fun, unapologetically queer brand of hip hop that this song sums up nicely.

Clutch, "10001110101," Robot Hive/Exodus, 2005.

Haha, ok. Robot Hive was a mid-career masterpiece from Clutch, a band that has a long and somewhat frustrating habit of coming up with a great sound, getting a bit too comfortable, then finding a new one. They slowly transformed from a metal band in 1991 to a heavy blues band in 2025. This album rules, but this song. What does that title mean!? A friend of mine set out to investigate at the time, and I think he nailed it. Some internet searching around the song's impenetrable lyrics revealed several references to Rush songs. Specifically, from their album 2112. This led my friend to do some creative math with 10001110101: 1+0+0+0+1=2, 1, 1, 0+1+0+1=2. 2112. The whole thing is a Rush tribute. Pretty wild. Clutch is always fun.

Murder City Devils, "Press Gang," RIP, 2003.

A document of the band's final live show. Well, you know, at the time. They eventually came back for a really disappointing reunion in 2014. Pretty weird band, MCD. "Indie," "garage," whatever you wanted to call it, that thing that was happening a lot at the turn of the century. But with an organ, and highly unusual vocals. Really set them apart from, like, the Hives and White Stripes. The studio version of this song is a lot better, but them's the breaks.

And that's 10 songs. Another truly chaotic assortment. I must confess a bit of pride in how ridiculous my music is. I've just been a sponge my whole life, exploring more and more genres and finding more and more to like. I think most people stop caring about new music after high school. I think a lot of people go through phases, liking this or that genre, then moving on to something else. I've just slowly and steadily found something to like in just about every kind of music I've ever encountered for 40+ years. It's still my favorite thing.

[bigfatmusicblog]

WTF is Jangle Pop?

If you’ve read any of my little write-ups you know I have a longstanding love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with subgenres. I understand the need to more specifically classify music, especially when genres like indie rock are so vague, still it doesn’t make it any less arbitrary than gender. As a kid/teen I was obsessed with subgenres and while they’re a lot more specific nowadays, god could I tell you the difference between Garage Punk and Slacker Punk, much to the chagrin of anyone who happened to be in earshot. Because of this predilection, wired into my brain from years of surfing the tags on Bandcamp, whenever I catch wind of a subgenre new to me I have to dive deeper into it. An attempt to understand what makes that subgenre different from other closely related ones, as I said before, is an arbitrary one - after all literally none of this matters in the grand scheme of things, but also just like… let people enjoy things asshole.

I first heard about Jangle Pop earlier this year looking at the RYM reviews of Ducks Ltd. fantastic sophomore record Harm’s Way. Mistakenly I originally thought of it as an indie rock record, one that I was fairly excited about because of its guitar based nature and lack of unnecessary electronic aspects so many in the indie rock umbrella have turned to recently. But oh how simple I can be…

This moment reminds me of a time I was on a trip with just my brother and my dad - my dad was in the shower listening to a Creed radio station he had made on Pandora. Upon getting out of the shower he asked us “what genre would you consider Creed to be?” “Uhh, Grunge I guess?” we replied. It took a second but finally he said, “Well, if this is what that is, I guess I like grunge then.” If Harm’s Way by Ducks Ltd. is a jangle pop album, well fuck I guess I like jangle pop. 

One of the biggest things I noticed in those RYM reviews were a lot of claims about this album being “no nonsense, old school jangle pop” or “some of the best jangle pop [they’ve] heard in years.” This lead me to the assumption that, despite no subgenre being a monolith, I could use this album as a better way to understand this new (to me) idea of what jangle pop truly is and what its parts are. 

Instrumentation-wise this album utilizes single notes on clean guitars as opposed to playing full chords. That doesn’t mean the lead guitar is just shredding the whole time, they’re simply playing rhythm guitar with single notes, giving them the ability to add little flourishes whenever they can. The tone of the guitar is clean, only going into distortion at the beginning of On Our Way to the Rave. This is coupled with a heavily present bass sound, working just about the same as the guitar, except being a bit more lead-heavy. Usually the two don’t take the lead at the same time, sharing the spotlight by playing simple rhythms behind more impressive parts on the bass/guitar. I think this trade-off is what gives the genre the first part of its name, the jangle part. Less math-rock than the closely related (name-wise) genre of twinkle-emo, it may sound insane but you can tell the difference between twinkle and jangle. I don’t know how to further explain this point but trust me, if you listen to the two side by side, you will be able to tell.

The drums play a big role in this as well, as with most genres it’s the driving force behind everything. A lot of times it takes that job seriously, with no better way to describe the sound than driving. There aren’t any waltzes in here, with no slowing down really until the very end, it sounds exhaustive for the person on the skins. I think without this steady drum beat the jangle of the stringed instruments would be less noticeable, truly taking on a supporting role. Every so often it’s sprinkled with little fills, borrowing sounds and influences from bands like The Cure and R.E.M, who some consider to be earlier examples of jangle. 

So now that I musically know the themes of this genre, being given, from my research, the quintessential jangle album of the year. I start to think tangentially, what has influenced this, where have I heard these sounds before, who started Jangle Pop???? I’m answering that question myself, with no real outside research because who really cares, and in my opinion the current state of Jangle Pop started in 2008 when Vampire Weekend recreated the genre with their self titled album, Vampire Weekend. 

While this album is a bit more heavily produced, and there are potentially a lot more jangle themes in their sophomore follow-up Contra, I think the twee aesthetics and juvenile lyrics of college life, plus the heavily present bass and less so present lead guitar, sets up the future of this genre perfectly. Songs like Oxford Comma and Campus feature the guitar tones and smarter "educated person" lyrics that continue to make up the genre today. Percussion-wise it is different, VW has always been more syncopated or twinkly with their drums, but in future songs like Cousins and Worship You it’s easier to see the relation. On that previous topic I do feel like their perfect syncopation plays a big part musically, inspiring the future of the subgenre. While there is a good trade-off of bass and guitar on Harm’s Way, the moments where the two come together with the drums has real power behind it.  

All of this leads up to the previous Friday, October 18th, with the release of Boyscott’s first record in almost a decade, Spellbound. What’s special about this album is that it’s the first new album I’ve heard that’s made me go “oh… that’s jangle pop, I understand what jangle pop is.” It plays on the driving aspects of the drums found in Harm’s Way while also incorporating ideas that are very clearly influenced by early Vampire Weekend. Songs like Moosehead that uses the ever popular organ sound found in A-Punk and even at the beginning of Ducks Ltd.’s rocker of a track Train Full of Gasoline. 

To be honest this album seems to mainly be Vampire Weekend influenced, which makes sense, afterall Ducks Ltd. is moreso their peers as opposed to one of the most influential indie bands of the late 00’s early 10’s. Ducks is clearly more influenced by real classic jangle pop bands whereas Boyscott, at least on this album, helps support my hypothesis that Vampire Weekend recreated the genre, we love to see it. The real cross-section between Harm’s Way and Spellbound is in their vocal performance. Not to assume influences, like I have been this entire article, but you can definitely hear some Black Francis of the Pixies or, the more modern, Christian Zucconi of Grouplove influence behind both of their understated, raspy yet calming voices. 

Beyond that this album really just feels like a DIY produced Vampire Weekend album. Arthur Kill to Lima is a fantastic run of songs that promote this clear influence on the release. Boyscott is still able to make it their own, mind you, and they do focus more on the less chord influenced side of jangle pop that Vampire Weekend has never really tapped into. They also use their surfer rock influence to make the songs almost more relatable, as opposed to the crisp clean impossible to replicate general aesthetics of Vampire Weekend’s early work. This gives them a little more grime, a little more edge, a little more ripped jeans than a pair of pressed tan slacks. Being able to go from the lovely syncopation to these robust warm choruses puts a true sense of comfort behind this release, perfect for the upcoming cold air. 

Overall: Jangle Pop, and I’m so glad I don’t have to type out that phrase again for such a long time, is a genre best taken in musically. If you aren’t paying attention a lot of it can sound the same, a general warm blanket of noise, but once you start looking at the parts individually is when the magic shines through. Clever guitars, present lead bass, breakneck drum fills that drive the genre, all of these work in sync helping create the feeling of jingle jangle - under the guise of pop music - that evokes the name of the genre.

Album Grades: 

Harm’s Way by Ducks, Ltd. - A

Vampire Weekend by Vampire Weekend - B+

Spellbound by Boyscott - B+

[gerogerigaogaigar]

Yeah Yeah Yeah - Fever To Tell

A perfect trio. Karen O's fuck me or go fuck yourself attitude, Brian Chase's frenetic drumming, and Nick Zimmer's nasty riffs make for the exact album that the burgeoning post punk revival scene of the 00s needed to stay fresh. If only other bands had followed their lead 😑 I digress though. The willingness to delve into the territory of noise rock only to always pull it back into more palatable garage rock/post punk territory is masterful. Like musical edging they keep it tastelessly sexual for almost too long. Up until the last few tracks which allows for an emotional release that helps pull the whole album together thematically.

Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

If it were me, hear me out now. See, if it were me, I would keep my Anne Frank sex dream to myself. I wouldn't write one of the most cryptic and beautiful albums of all time about it. I would not have combined indie folk and alt rock into a psychedelic melange of dreamlike wandering. I would have just kept that to myself. But I've made exactly zero of the greatest albums of all time so what the fuck do I know? This album is so completely sincere so please treat it gently. And ignore it's status as hipster holy grail. Listen to it on its own merits, for me, please?

Green Day - Dookie

Pop punk is maybe not the most well respected genre, and I get why. I don't think a lot of adults want to hear nasally privileged teens singing about jacking off. If Dookie, or any album like it, was a part of your childhood then you probably already know if you'll like this album. And if it wasn't then you probably already know you won't. But if you are at all curious where the 90s pop punk scene started then you have to listen to this, at least for the historical significance.

Robert Johnson - King Of The Delta Blues Singers

Robert Johnson, by god how am I supposed to review Robert Johnson! There were other earlier bluesmen but they didn't have the exact influence on rock music that Robert Johnson did. Not only did his blues stylings influence the original.batch of rock n rollers of the 50s but this very compilation reintroduced him to the artists of the 60s. It's not hard to see why he was so influential. Despite, or most likely due to, the stripped down performances Johnson's guitar work never overshadows his haunting vocals and vice versa. And that guitar work! Johnson may not have been the first blues musician to have supposedly sold his soul in exchange for musical talent (he isn't even the only blues musician with the last name Johnson to have that rumor attached to him) but it's easy to see why it stuck to him. He bounces around the fretboard effortlessly and lays down harmony and counterpoint all in one take while singing to boot!

Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul

In the wake of Otis Redding's untimely death Stax Records had to do something quick. They pushed for a slew of new albums to be completed quick including a follow up to an unsuccessful debut by up and coming session musician Isaac Hayes. Hayes demanded full creative control over and the Stax execs were in no place to argue. The result is a four sing album with three out of four track passing the ten minute mark. It's also really horny. Hayes has one of those voices where everything he sings just becomes sensual. I mean that was the entire joke of him being in South Park. On this masterpiece of a record though, oh man do the instrumentals know how to match his energy. Sloppy, funky bass and lush orchestral arrangements perfectly match Hayes's soulful, lonesome longing. This is such a perfect fuck album that I think it would be too on the nose to actually put on during sex.

Big Brother & The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills

Janis Joplin's voice is probably the most irreplaceable loss that the music world ever suffered. Wait nah I'll save this bit for when I review Pearl. They better put Pearl in this fucking list.

Janis Joplin was active for four years put out four studio albums had three bands and two distinct phases to her career and then dropped dead at the age of 27. She currently holds the 100% completion speedrun for being a rock star. And Cheap Thrills is definitely the most 'rock star' of all her albums.

The Temptations - Anthology

Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971 is exactly what it says in the tin. A collection of every single released by Motown during their golden era. And looking at the track listing it's easy to see why the studio was nicknamed Hitsville USA. Five hours of runtime and nearly every song on here is an instantly recognizable classic. Even some of the deeper cuts are still just amazing. You would think that sitting through five hours of this might get tiring but I've seriously put this on and by the time it ends I'm like "wtf that wasn't five hours?" If you only have room for one comp in your collection make it this one. And if you want recs for a fucking Temptations record then listen to The Temptations Sing Smokey, Cloud Nine, or All Directions instead of another unnecessary compilation.

[chorusfm]

Liner Notes (April 27th, 2025)

Thoughts on Mark Hoppus’s book, new Ataris, and a pop-punk rec. This week’s supporter Q&A post can be found here. If you’d like this newsletter delivered to your inbox each week (it’s free and available to everyone), you can sign up here. A Few Things * Mark Hoppus’s memoir was everything I had hoped it would be. Funny, enduring, at times dark and troubling, but authentically Mark. I loved every page. I could have read something twice as long. I will always want more. More stories about the actual recording process and what went into some of my favorite songs. More behind-the-scenes tales from the later albums. More about the process of reconnecting and making One More Time…, but for the space and periods covered: it was a joy to read. I’d obviously recommend it to any fan of the band, but I think even non-die-hards would find something compelling. And, it went to #1 on the New York Times list. * I’ve been trying to blog more and recently wrote up a couple posts about little tricks I use in Raycast on a daily basis. In Case You Missed It * My Life In 35 Songs, Track 5: “Kill” by Jimmy Eat World * Riot Fest 2025 Lineup Announced * Me First and the Gimme Gimmes Are Now Spike and the Gimme Gimmes * Riot Fest Announces Full Album Plays * New Found Glory Recording New Album; Streaming on Instagram * The Used Expand Tour Dates * Albums in Stores – Apr 25th, 2025 Music Thoughts * The Ataris are gearing up for the release of their new album, and my expectations are sky-high. They have long been one of my all-time favorite bands, and having followed Kris on social media for many years, it’s been awesome to see just how jazzed he is about making music but also that it seems like he’s in genuinely a good place right now. I’ve long argued that Kris may be one of the most underrated songwriters of all time, and I truly mean that. His way of writing, tackling nostalgia and growing up and relationships and life’s ups and downs, is almost peerless in this genre. And I am bursting at the seams to hear all these songs come to life. The lead single is “Car Song,” and it’ll be out next Friday. It’s an entirely re-recorded version of the demo that’s been on Bandcamp for a while, and it sounds incredible. I played it multiple times back to back and let it wash over me. The production is warm and feels so tangible and real. Look, I’m all for glossy production. I have no problem with modern techniques at all. But there’s something so striking, and nostalgic in and of itself, to hear a song with this quality to it. It’s just a great song, executed well, and a very welcome return. My anticipation for the album is now officially off the charts. The just-released acoustic version of “In This Diary” is also a nice little treat. * I was checking out some new-ish pop-punk stuff this week and came upon this fun little gem by a band called Scooped Up! — the album is The Runs — and the band describes themselves as “DIY Pop-Punk” on Instagram. Perfect description. No notes. It’s an album that pulls me right back to my younger years and finding some band on Purevolume with a blistering fun style just rocking out and having fun doing it. * My Chemical Romance are releasing a new re-master of Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge in June. However, for some reason, the entire thing was up for about 24 hours on Apple Music a few weeks back. I am pretty sure I’ve written before in this newsletter about how I have a hard time with remasters with albums that feel attached to me like muscle memory. One of the only full remasters I’ve really liked and go back to instead of the original is the most recent Tell All Your Friends version. Because I think they actually fixed problems with the original while keeping the youthful feel to it, it sounds better. (Same for those remixed Relient K albums, now that I think about it.) Almost all the other ones sound so anachronistic. And it makes me wonder if, in 10 years, this pushed-up bass/drum style of mixing will also… https://chorus.fm/features/articles/liner-notes-april-27th-2025/

[lovejustforaday]

2023 Year End List - #17

17. Chaos For The Fly - Grian Chatten

Main genres: Indie Folk

A decent sampling of: Chamber Pop, Folk Rock

Grian Chatten is better known as lead singer of the Irish modern goth rock band Fontaines D.C., a group that's made significant waves in the British Isles ever since they came on to the indie/alternative scene.

Last year’s Skinty Fia appeared in a lot of publications' year end lists and only just barely got snubbed from my own by the #15 record I ended up going for, though it easily could’ve ended up anywhere between 15-13 since most of the stuff on the lower end of my lists are usually interchangeable in ranking. And frankly, I think I’ve probably since ended up spinning that one more times than Honeybee Table at The Butterfly Feast. The last two tracks "I Love You" and "Nabokov" were both particularly brilliant. But I digress.

Grian Chatten's natural charm as a figure in the world of indie music is hard to ignore. He's a brooding poet with a voice that is deep, homey, and rich, singing in an accent every bit as heavy as his regular talking voice. He embodies much of the same mythical cool factor and sensibilities of early 90s indie titans from the isles like The Stone Roses and My Bloody Valentine.

Likewise, the charisma is certainly there for him to venture out successfully as a solo artist, not to mention his strengths as a lyricist.

And this latest album is proof of concept. With his debut solo record Chaos For The Fly, Chatten paints new nocturnal worlds out of rickety old-timey and pastoral aesthetics, with a fair dose of cynicism and grim melancholy. He doesn't so much reinvent himself as a soloist, but rather takes elements of what already worked with his post-punk/goth rock band and distills them into a more intimate and folksy, singer/songwriter sound that retains some of his gothic roots.

I'm actually reminded a lot of folksier PJ Harvey records like White Chalk, Let England Shake, as well as this year’s I Inside The Old Year Dying which frankly, as a long time PJ fan, I fell this record outdid considerably. So props to him.

"The Score" was an excellent choice to ease in to the album's atmosphere, as the song ensnares listeners to a state of rest with an oddly seductive but wholly suspenseful folk guitar serenade. Chatten's whispers are gentle but firm and arresting, manifesting love as a contradictory force of benevolence and implied doom, all the while the plucking of the melody bends and resists resolution. Lots of subtle dualities happening here, which I'm a big fan of.

I knew that “Fairlies” was going to be one of my top tracks of the year the very moment I heard the chorus for the first time. It's a colourful feast for the ears; a fiery folk rock frenzy with all the mystique of a morbid fairytale, like a story of a werewolf hermit who bemoans and curses all of humanity. The whole piece feels like it should be accompanied by a really twisted old-fashioned wooden puppet show that combusts into dancing flames during the grand finale. That screeching fiddle towards the end in particular does everything it needs to in order to make this one hell of a memorable trip. A real stroke of genius.

"East Coast Bed" is a mild departure sonically, opting for a brighter, breezy sound still laced with melancholy and based heavily around a steady beat accompanied by warm chamber instruments, a flowery synth line, and a slight warbly dulcimer (or perhaps a sitar?). Fitting to its name, I feel as though I could lay back and start to float endlessly on the gusts of an oceanic wind.

The tender "Salt Throwers off a Truck" is the most traditionally 'folk' in composition piece on the album. This track really showcases Chatten's ability to conjure images that are deeply romantic and familiar yet forlorn. Not much else to say on this one - it speaks for itself. Makes me want to grab a pint and think about my life 10 years ago.

My one gripe with this album is "All Of The People", a somewhat under-cooked, spitefully misanthropic piano ballad. While it thematically fits within the record's general cynicism and poetics, the delivery in the lyrics is much too on the nose and (dare I say) almost banal, at least in comparison to what Chatten regularly demonstrates he's capable of. It ends up feeling really out of pace and disturbs the record's flow. I would've omitted this from the final version and relegated it to a bonus track. Hell, this LP probably would've made it a lot higher on my list if not for this hiccup.

But aside from the one considerable bump in the road, Chaos For The Fly was a standout project in 2023 for its clever songwriting and setting great atmosphere, and I for one am very excited for Grian Chatten to continue making solo projects. I would love to see an even more ambitious project in a similar vein to to this record. As it stands now, the man's already got me seeing will-o'-the-wisps over here whenever I listen to this bad boy at night.

So definitely check this one out, especially if Halloween-y is really your vibe.

8/10

Highlights: "Fairlies", "The Score", "Salt Throwers off a Truck", "East Coast Bed"

[dj-of-the-coven]

Good g*d where do I even start? Fast-paced loud noise is like half the stuff I listen to. Here's a list in no particular order of some genres that fit that description + band examples (note that the examples are going to be a gateway for the uninitiated; seasoned listeners of these genres will almost certainly know these bands):

Classic Punk: Low-fidelity, high-rage. Sometimes sounds like it was recorded in a tin can. Sounds best live or being played as loud as you can make it in a crowded room. Literally--the music is meant to be heard over an ocean of people fighting and throwing each other for fun. Bands: Subhumans, The Circle Jerks

90s American punk revival: Higher-fidelity, just as much rage. Incorporates contemporary subjects for the youth of the decade; everything from gang violence to drug addiction and loneliness. More likely to mention sticking it to "the man". Not always as political as classic punk, but it very much depends on the band. Bands: Green Day, The Offspring, Bikini Kill

90s Pop-Punk (otherwise known as the birth of Skater Punk): Much like 90s punk revival but even less political. Mostly known for being popular with skaters, hence the name. Sounds better to the casual listener than most punk subgenres. Bands: Blink-182, Bad Religion

2000s Pop-Punk: Most famous for birthing the emocore genre (better known as emo), although it should be noted that barely any bands used that label pre-2010 as it used to be considered insulting. Much more melodic than the punk that came before it. Palatable by most standards but most people over 40 still hate it. Bands: Fall Out Boy, The Story So Far, Papa Roach

2000s Emo Rock Opera: Like 2000s Pop-Punk but with more of a flair for the visual dramatics; extremely high-concept and tends to be paired with recognizable costumes. Bands: My Chemical Romance, Black Veil Brides

2000s Pop-Punk Latinoamericano: The lesser-known cousin of American English Pop-Punk which is either partially or entirely in Spanish. Sometimes incorporates instruments more common in latin genres, such as Spanish guitar, trumpet, tuba, and accordion. Bands: PXNDX, Go Betty Go

And that's just off the top of my head. I have a decade's worth of recommendations left to list if you want more.

one of my favourite genres of music is fast paced loud noise

[xx-emowarz-xx]

You know what. Let's make an attempt to define Emo. I think that maybe we should try to do that on this blog. TO THE DICTIONARY!

From Oxford: Noun: a style of rock music resembling punk but having more complex arrangements and lyrics that deal with more emotional subjects./Adj: denoting or relating to emo and its associated subculture.

I disagree with this definition in multiple ways but I agree with it in others personally. My own personal definition of Emo is:

The post punk subculture that defined the post punk movement in the early 2000s, heavily associated with pop punk, screamo, Crunkcore, hard rock, and nu metal music genres. (I could get more in depth but we're keeping it short and sweet)

I'm not even gonna deign to deal with the "more complex than punk" assertion from the dictionary, that's stupid, but the other way I disagree with the dictionary is that Emo as a music genre is not helpful because that's everything from Deathcab For Cutie to 3oh!3 to My Chem to Papa Roach to Pierce the Veil. Those 5 bands have genre overlap but they're not the same genre by any stretch. The adjective defining it as a post punk subculture however, we start to get somewhere.

Because history lesson, Punk arose in the 70s with bands like the Ramones, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, ect. This is when people started dying their hair black or unnatural colors, wearing safety pins as accessories rather than out of necessity, having lots of piercings and tattoos, (for better or for worse (for worse mostly)) seeing things like self harm and sticking yourself with a safety pin or whatever as hard core and cool, wearing a lot of black especially leather, putting studs and spikes on their clothing, screaming in their music, shredding on their guitars in a way we associate with punk and metal and hard rock genres, using makeup to look more unnerving rather than more conventionally attractive ect.

Then in the 80s the goth scene arose, and it had a lot of overlap with the punk scene but it had some different fashion choices and some different music. Then in the 90s the grunge scene arose and it had a lot of overlap with the previous two scenes but it had some different fashion choices (or lack there of shout out to grunge) and some different music. Then in the 2000s the Emo scene arose, and it had a lot of overlap with the previous two scenes but it had some different fashion choices and some different music. And I'm repeating myself.

I'm not proposing that it's all secretly the punk scene from the 70s, but I kind of am. Obviously they're different. The world changed so the subcultures changed too. Example, part of the reason that Emo is seen as more cringe than those previous three scenes I just listed is because Emo came up in the era of early internet cringe posting. Part of the reason that Emo is kinda defanged from punk is because radical movements have a lot of pressure on them to assimilate or die off. The reason that Emo is associated with self destruction where as punk is associated with outward destruction is because political radicalism sort of got taken off the table in some ways in the early 2000s. MCR started as a response to 9/11, for example. Punk is our fuckin grandpa, and goth is our mom, and grunge is our lay about older sibling.

And that's not to say that punk or goth or grunge is dead or even dying, I'm not saying that at all (although we're going through kind of a rough moment right now). There are Punks who do not consider themselves and who I would not consider part of any of the other subcultures mentioned, so too with goths and emos. They're different but they're connected. Your humble mod is emo by default because I was born in 2001 and therefore the emo genre is what was most relevant when I was discovering my music taste, but I consider myself something of a nondenominational goth. I'm not really into grunge, but I listen to old school punk like the misfits and the dead kennedys, and goth rock like sisters of mercy and siouxsie and the banshees. I lean more scene queen in my hairstyles and more punk in my jacket choices and goth when I'm doing my eyeliner but those aren't hard and fast rules for me.

All of these are primarily musical subcultures, but I think they're subcultures first, which means that what is or isn't an emo anthem is whatever the emo and scene kids liked, and brother you are the emo and scene kids now and that is why you are voting in my polls to decide what the best emo anthem is.

[party-lemon]

This is gonna be a long post, y'all, mostly cause I like sharing things I like on the internet. So here is

A List of my Top Ten Favorite Albums (So Far) and Why (In No Particular Order)

#1: I Love You Like a Brother - Alex Lahey

Released: October 6, 2017

Genre: Alternative Indie/ Rock

Ahhh, I recently discovered this album (after knowing only the titular track for, like, a year) and it is so good. A running theme will be alternative, rock-ish albums and this is the perfect example of an alternative rock album. I won't get too hung up on genres but this album is fantastic. There's, honestly, nothing overly spectacular and wowing about it but that's what I like about it. It's so simple and I love it for that. It sounds like the soundtrack to a cool, indie movie.

#2: Razzmatazz - I Dont Know How But They Found Me

Released: October 23, 2020

Genre: Indie pop/synth-pop/pop rock

I adore this album. This is in the top 3, if I were to narrow down this list. I went through a period where I listened to this album on repeat for two weeks. Don't get me wrong, 1981 Extended Play was fantastic, I love all of IDKHow's work. But this. Razzmatazz is so unafraid to be weird. There's all sorts of instruments in here that you wouldn't expect but they just work. Saxophone solos? In 2020? It works better than you think. And don't even get me started on Clusterhug.

#3: Hesitant Alien - Gerard Way

Released: September 29, 2014

Genres: Alternative rock/Britpop

Also another album I have listened to for two weeks straight. Where do I start? Like almost every song on here is so unique and different from the other. The Britpop feel is immaculate. Action Cat and How It's Going to Be are some of my favorite songs ever. Brother...speaks for itself. I could go on and on about what I love about Hesitant Alien but it would be so long so I will refrain.

#4: Revolution Radio - Green Day

Released: October 7, 2016

Genres: Punk rock/alternative rock

This album shaped my entire junior high career. I listened to this album (and all of Green Day's discography) non stop. I don't listen to it as much anymore but anytime a song off of it plays, I remember how much I love this album. I don't particularly think it's Green Day's best album (that title will always go to American Idiot) but Revolution Radio just holds a special place in my heart. It was the soundtrack to my life during 7th and 8th grade and introduced me to so many other bands (like My Chemical Romance).

#5: Blurryface - Twenty One Pilots

Released: May 17, 2015

Genres: Rock/Pop/Pop rap

I know, I know, Twenty One Pilots. I'm sorry. But Blurryface is really good. Like, with every other TOP album, I skip a track or two but there is not a bad song on this album. It's so intense sometimes and then, boom, Tear in my Heart and We Don't Believe What's on TV. So good.

#6: The Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

Released: October 20, 2006

Genres: Rock/Punk rock/Alternative Rock

I had the hardest time choosing between The Black Parade and Danger Days. Don't get me wrong, I adore Danger Days. The storyline, the energy, the different sound. But The Black Parade is poetic. It is theatrical and heartbreaking and angry. Dare I say, one of the greatest concept albums ever. There are no lulls. It does not miss a beat, even with Teenagers. Danger Days may contain my favorite song ever but The Black Parade is immeasurably stunning. An absolute masterpiece, if you will. Such a fabulous album.

#7: Melophobia - Cage the Elephant

Released: October 3, 2013

Genres: Alternative rock/Indie rock

I have really grown to love Cage the Elephant and Melophobia is absolutely amazing. This album feels kind of different from the all of the other ones on this list and I can't quite put my finger on why. Hell, I can't really explain why I like it so much. Melophobia is just different and I like it. Every track is so good, the rough sound on some of the songs gives a garage band vibe. The poetry at the end of Teeth is so cool and Cigarette Daydreams is the epitome of every rom-com indie movie soundtrack.

#8: The Click - AJR

Released: June 9, 2017

Genres: Alternative indie/Pop

Apparently people don't like AJR or think they're cringy or something...? I don't care, I love this album. It tackles so many topics about growing up, wanting to just skip to the good part of life, and feeling so lost in adulthood (and sort of life, in general). Plus, AJR's sound is strange but I really like it. They use a lot of trumpets, which is great. And they do this in a living room! The Click just handles itself so well and tries to make you feel okay about being grown and it doesn't care if it fails.

#9: Hawaii: Part II - ミラクルミュージカル (Miracle Musical)

Released: December 12, 2012

Genres: Pop/Ballads/Electronic/Just kind of everything

Literally the weirdest music I listen to and man, is it great. Hawaii: Part II is interesting, to say the least. I think you're bound to like at least one song on here just because it has a bit of everything on it. It is just sort of a trip to listen to. A good one, mind you. Nothing can really describe this album, you just kind of have to listen to it.

#10: Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

Released: February 4, 1977

Genres: Pop rock/soft rock

What a classic, honestly. I wish I had been listening to this sooner (I only recently started listening to Fleetwood Mac) because Rumours is a masterpiece. The entire album feels like the soundtrack to an indie movie (if you couldn't tell, I'm really into indie movies). Never Going Back Again is such a flawless song. The Chain is badass. Second Hand News? Dreams? Just every song is great. And Fleetwood Mac is such a badass band, too. I could rave about Rumours for a while so I'll stop now.

Honorable Mentions:

Danger Days - My Chemical Romance

Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? - Billie Eilish

Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace - Foo Fighters

Save Rock and Roll - Fall Out Boy

(This doesn't even include musicals cause there would be a few of those making the list)

Um, if you made it down to here, thanks for reading. 10/10, would recommend all of these albums, give 'em a listen.

[petrichorvoices]

what is ur OCs favorite music genre or band?- 🔮🌙

OK SO the gang member her name is Angela she's the only one we know who the answer for this is right off the top of our head. anyway she thrives on defying expectations, she's got a very casual punk look going on, but she scares conservative middle-aged women at the grocery store etc, all of her playlists mix classical music with punk rock. she has different playlists all of the same thing, just mixing different subgenres of classical with different subgenres of punk. she falls asleep to these and nobody knows how

Opal is a huge Broadway fan, so she listens to musical soundtracks a lot. she also likes early 2010s pop, and anything that's catchy and upbeat

Martin is a music major, and listens to anything he thinks his professors would hate. he doesn't like his major, he's doing it to make his mom happy {because as we mentioned, Phyllis was the favourite, and Martin internalized that}. he listens to movie soundtracks too, a bit of everything in terms of what movies. he also enjoys rap music a lot {he's a lot better at rapping than Zachary is, which Zachary despises}

Zachary listens to anything he think will make people think well of him. he's not really a huge music guy though. his dad didn't like music very much, and so Zachary just didn't really grow up with it. he's got a pretty decent singing voice when you can coax him to sing, but he doesn't pay any mind to it

Phyllis.. utterly no idea. we know that she's good at rapping though which she practiced specifically to one-up Martin. she's definitely a party person, so whatever would be on those playlists she's probably good with. we don't go to many parties, we don't know what people listen to during those

[nastyburger]

its mourner time

before the accident, sam, tucker, and danny were in a band called “Dead Cat and the Haunted”! tucker played bass, danny played drums, and sam was vocalist and guitar (tucker could also play piano on the side and did sound mixing). the band had been officially around for about a year and a half, but the dream of starting one has certainly existed between the trio for years beforehand.

the band’s genre was basically alt rock. sam and tucker adopted the punk goth look for the band but ended up liking the image enough to go full time with it! danny himself never quite adopted this, but still gets their own lighter makeover for shows (usually just the simple black shirt and paint on his cheeks really). the band wasnt popular per say, but they definitely had a couple of hits in niche circles.

danny usually provided a lot of fenton tech for performances (a failed “ghost smoker” that makes a pretty good fog machine, some homemade laser lights made from spare parts, ect), so the ghost portal was a project of interest when it was completed (but unable to work). similar to canon, sam persuades danny to check the portal out. with danny being the robotics nerd that he was and growing up with this sort of ghost tech all around them, having danny go in to find the problem seemed like the natural thing to do, sam though nothing of it when she made the suggestion.

danny was a bit nervous to venture in alone though, so they ask sam to go in with them which she agrees to do. tucker decides to stay behind during all this. they both put on their hazmat suits and went into the portal. danny accidentally hits the switch as usual and........fully dies from the electrocution.

for one reason or another, the variables were just not lined up for danny this time around and he doesnt make it out of the portal in any form of consciousness. not alive, not a ghost, not half, just dead. sam, on the other hand, did gain ghost powers but the guilt of what happened to danny eats her alive.

she adopts this “i couldnt save my friend so i save everyone else” philosophy and begins to have a somewhat strained relationship with tucker. she starts to push him away both out of guilt and a “its safer this way” mentality. the first couple months following danny’s death was a difficult time for everyone and sam left herself to figure out most of this ghost stuff on her own.

tucker was relentless though and did everything he could to support sam and stick by her side despite her efforts to keep him away. after a particularly nasty scourge with a ghost that leads to tucker saving sam, she finally relents and allows tucker back into her life. things are still a little difficult between them, but they’re slowly getting better.

the fentons believe that danny went into the portal alone. the little fact that sam was in there with them was quietly left out of the story and thats all jack and maddie really knew about the incident. they never pried anymore information from the kids still mourning (haha funny joke) and traumatized. jazz, on the other hand, was furious. she knew they were with danny was right to suspect some sort of persuasion happened to get him to go into the portal. sam admits that she was the one to tell them to go in out of guilt, she and jazz don’t talk to each other for a long time.

the ember “episode” plays out differently with mourner and far later in her ghost career, it was a rather important point in her healing process. the fight against ember ends up taking place as a “battle of the bands” type deal, the idea was to essentially steal the spotlight and attention off of her. the idea of playing as a band was obviously a sore spot for sam and tucker, and the lack of a drummer was a problem on its own. there was someone they could ask, but neither of them really liked the idea.

stuff happens, tensions rise, until finally sam and tucker do what they need to do: they ask jazz to play drums for them. jazz was able to play drums as well, and often subbed in for danny while he was alive from time to time. after the incident, the idea of jazz replacing danny permanently popped up but was quickly shut down. it was just too soon at the time, so asking jazz to play now was a significant gesture of moving on. they play as a band, beat the ghost, and sam and jazz also mend their relationship.

after the ember incident, this was also the point where sam tells jazz about her ghost powers and the full story of what happened that day, she later does the same for jack and maddie. she felt she owed them the truth, and while jazz has finally forgiven sam, jack and mads have a harder time. they dont hate or hold the incident against her, they just find it hard to grapple with. sam does her best to stay distant from the parents for their sake.

as of now, sam, tucker, and jazz play together as “The Mourners”. jazz is now also part of the team and helps with sam’s ghost fighting, the three become more close knit with both the band and the hunting.

are sam and tucker dating in this au? the answer to that is.........its complicated. they definitely do like each other, even before the incident, but its hard to think about dating when your best friend died. they’ll get there eventually, but itll be a long while until then.

[xmyshya]

Shoved it: chapter I - Grind

summary: You don’t like skaters. They’re unruly, misbehaved and rude. But this one encounter just might change your view. genre: fluff warnings: tooth-rotting fluff (seriously, make a dentist appointment), slow burn, mutual pining betas: @vanille–kiss​ as always I'm eternally grateful to you, I love you lots a/n: Written for ANILYSIUM (former HQHQ) Server Collab with the prompt “Meet Ugly”. Check the event’s masterlist here! series navi: masterlist | next wc: 1.4k

Books. You love everything about them - the scent of the ink, the feeling and texture of paper under the pads of your fingers, the sound of pages being turned, the way how 26 letters bloom as a whole new world in your mind.

It’s a beautiful spring day, one that carries the warmth of sunshine and scent of freshly revived greenery in the air. Birds are chirping sweet love songs, you’re wearing your favourite flowy dress, gentle breeze makes the short stray strands that slipped from your bun tickle your nape.

On a day like this, it’s extra hard not to bury your nose in the tome you carry around these days. Technically, you know you should pay attention to your surroundings, especially when you’re walking and not sitting on the bench, but it’s just getting to the good part, where the thief prince is about to steal a kiss (and a heart) of the princess and -

Huh?

It’s a beautiful spring day, the sun is finally out, no sight of rain clouds, no school today, absolute freedom. Which is why Suna Rintarou is rushing to the park, using his worn skateboard for the first time this year. He surely hopes he hasn’t gotten rusty with the break, but damn does it feel good.

The wind is ruffling his bangs that stick out from underneath his beanie, and it makes him want to go faster, faster, and maybe, just maybe, he might be able to fly. Or at least jump really well. So he pushes again and again, despite moving at a decent speed already.

There are stairs nearby, and Rin feels today is the day he beats his record at how far he can land. He’s approaching it fast, the top is right there, he can see it, so he pops the board and then shoves it, his ankle at a perfect angle, and shit, if it ain’t the perfect pop shuvit, and fuck, he’s middle air and knows he’s gonna fuck it up.

Because at the bottom, right where he predicts he’ll land, there’s you. A cute girl, with her hair and dress flowing with the wind, eyes trained on a book in her hands, and she doesn’t even see him.

Which is why he crashes with you, having enough mind clarity to push his board in another direction and cover the back of your head with his hand, before he falls on top of you on the pavement. You blink at him with a confusion clear in your gaze, almost as if you don’t know where you are. He smirks at you lazily, and in his most seductive voice lets out a,

“Hi.”

You still look at him with those huge doe eyes, like a little lost lamb, and he would love to sink his teeth in your flesh like a big bad fox. The boy opts for helping you up, instead. He can do that other thing some other time. As you shake off the dirt from your dress, he opens his mouth to say something more, but he’s met with

“What the hell?! That was dangerous! You could have hurt somebody! Have you thought about it? This is a public place, you… you… you punk!”

He’s staring at you dumbfounded, surprised at your sudden outburst. Definitely not what he expected after protecting you from the impact, and definitely not after presenting you his best smirk, the one that has every girl swooning. Suna shakes off his haze when you reach the top of the stairs, and mumbles at the sudden realisation.

“But… I’m not a punk?”

-----------------------------------

You’re running. Your feet hurt, lungs burn, and you don’t really see where you are or where you’re headed, but it’s better than getting caught by palace watchmen. The hand around your wrist has a tight grip, as you’re dragged through narrow dark alleys. Suddenly, the man in front pulls you behind a corner, his arm wrapped around your waist, both your chests heaving against each other.

“Are you okay, Princess?” He asks, voice still a little breathy from the exercise, and you nod. “I think the guards are gone now.”

“Are you the Prince of the Thieves?” His smirk grows wide in the shadows.

“I did steal you from the palace, did I not?” His face is coming dangerously close, olive eyes boring into yours. “If you’re not careful, I might steal your heart as well.”

His breath is fanning over your lips as he whispers the last sentence, you part your mouth…

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Shit.

Wait, why did the Prince have the face of that punk?

***

Luckily the bus you take to school isn’t crowded. You squeezed yourself into a window seat with earphones completely sealing you off from the surroundings. Hopefully upbeat music will be enough of the distraction from the weird dream. Hopefully.

Relaxed, you close your eyes and sing along in your mind, tapping the rhythm on your thigh. You let your mind wander, as you imagine yourself dancing to the song, feeling the endorphins pump through your veins.

Until an image of those greyish-yellow eyes glinting in the darkness flash in your head.

Well, shit.

***

If there was any hope of relief from being haunted by that intense gaze at school, it’s gone now. As a top student you were always focused on lessons, always ready with an answer for any question; but today it’s completely the opposite.

First, you somehow managed to forget a basic algebraic formula. While solving a problem on the board. The class was shocked, the teacher was not impressed, you were embarrassed… Still feeling the heat of shame hours later.

Then you completely spaced out, forcing the English teacher to repeat your name over and over, telling you to continue reading a text. And you didn’t even know which part you should continue from.

After that came chemistry, and you nearly blew up the lab after messing up the proportions of ingredients. Why were you so affected by some punk you didn’t even know? Why were you seeing those damn eyes everywhere? Even in the cafeteria, at the table across from yours, that boy also has those eyes.

Wait, no. Oh no.

You’re staring at him unabashedly, silently praying to be wrong, waiting for something, anything, to prove that it’s not the person from the park. It doesn’t come, but the heavens curse you instead.

In a slow motion you observe how his eyes meet yours, and as if it wasn’t bad enough, he smirks. You make off the cafeteria so quickly, that you nearly trip over your own two feet. Seriously, what did you even do to deserve this punishment?

It’s Monday again, and Suna would rather stay at home and sleep. But he has to show up to class, so he reluctantly crawls out of the bed, throws on his uniform, and after brushing his teeth leaves the house. It’s such a drag, honestly. Nothing interesting ever happens.

Rintarou nearly dozes off on the bus, the steady hum of the engine and gentle rocking serving as a lullaby. But he can’t sleep, he can’t miss the stop and be late again. So he forces himself to watch the monotonous scenery on the other side of the window.

As predicted, the day goes by slowly. There’s nothing amusing about listening to those old peoples’ rambling on subjects nobody even cares for. Like hell he’s gonna need inorganic chemistry or classical Japanese. So Rin is sitting at his desk, chin in the palm, thinking how it’s a waste of perfectly fine weather for skating.

Finally, the lunch break comes and he drags his feet behind Miya twins to the cafeteria. It’s not his favourite place, it’s crowded and loud, but his buddies fighting over food makes it worth the hassle. They’re doing this right now, Osamu trying to steal his brother’s onigiri, while Atsumu attempts to poke the other boy’s hands with chopsticks.

Suddenly Rin feels somebody’s intense gaze. It’s not like he’s not used to it, girls usually stare at them lovingly, but this feels different. Curious, he glances in the direction he thinks it comes from and sees… you; barely aware of the smirk curling his lips. But then you run off, probably flushed. That must be it, right?

Suna feels like he hit a jackpot.

[ricksanchez-z420-moved]

for the music asks, can you answer either all of them or at least 5 of your choosing? I'm very curious 💜

queen bee wants em all she gets em all 💜🤙

(putting this all under the cut cuz its a lot 😅)

1. Song that always makes you happy

ocean man by ween for sure, its hard to be upset listening to that one

2. Song you listen to when you're sad

forget it by getter is def one of my go to feelsy songs

3. Top 5 songs of an artist of your choosing

island in the sun, say it ain't so, my name is jonas, beverly hills, sweater song

4. 3 most played songs on iTunes or Last.fm etc.

doin time by sublime, by the way by rhcp, i wanna get better by bleachers (on spotify cuz i dont have that other shit lol)

5. Favourite song right now

ive been weirdly obsessed with buried alive by terror reid lately

6. Favourite album of all time

probably sublimes self titled album if i have to pick

7. Favourite song of all time

santeriaaa

8. Favourite artist of all time

subliiime

9. A memory associated to an artist of your choosing

my dad really liked selena...he used to say she had an angelic voice. i was only 8 when she died but i remember my dad being devastated

10. Song that you feel you must always dance to

i literally dance to everything lmaooo must be a drummer thing but as long as it has a beat im groovin to it

11. First album you bought

my first album was dookie, unintentionally pissed my mom off but it was totally worth it

12. A song that reminds you of someone you love

😒

13. A song from your childhood

gonna have to put this here for reasons

14. A song that reflects your personality

def gonna have to go with alien boy by oliver tree

15. Most hated song of all time

honestly anything by tool i cannot stand tool

16. Most overrated song

oblivion by grimes

17. Most underrated song

18. Most overrated artist

grimes 😏

19. Most underrated artist

everyone should go check out peach prc shes great her music is great

20. Favourite vocal performance

i just have to share a video for this one lol the whole thing is a ride from start to finish

21. Favourite guitar solo

i mean this 100% jack blacks solo in school of rock at the end where they perform in battle of the bands is fuckin choice dude

22. A song no one would expect you to love

i love terror jr ive been kind of following her for a while, this is a fave by her

23. A song you get stick for liking

i have a couple of lana del rey songs on my smoke playlist and i get mad shit from c137 AND morty 😒

24. A song you'd like at your funeral

i want im a believer by smash mouth blasting at my funeral (definitely joking)

pls play i miss you by blink 192 at my funeral (very much not joking)

25. Karaoke song

likely anything by sublime or weezer 😅 talking heads is fun to do too

26. Favourite summertime song

summertime by sublime 😏

27. Favourite Christmas song

oh my goood ive been waiting my whole life to share this because no one believes me but SIMPLE PLAN PUT OUT A CHRISTMAS SONG

28. An artist you used to love but don't really listen to now

im actually embarrassed to admit this but i had a very short lived obsession with limp bizkit when i was a kid 😅 lets just say i was an angry child lol

29. A cover that's better than the original

ive really been digging doja's cover of celebrity skin

30. A song that you have to crank the volume up for

i always crank my girl doja up

31. What song was top of the charts when you were born

ok so i had to look this up and the first thing i saw was everybody have fun tonight by wang chung lol

32. C.D. that's always in the car

i havent really done cds since like...2009 maybe 2010 lol

33. Which genre of music features most heavily in your collection

grunge and pop punk mostly but id say i have a pretty good mix of everything

34. Which genre(s) do you try to avoid

im not the biggest fan of most metal tbh (mort and i clash a lot when it comes to this 😅)

35. A song that is always stuck in your head

ngl this is on loop constantly in my head

[peaches-writes]

don’t you worry, baby

member: chan 

wc: 1.4k

genre: fluff, summer au, childhood friends to lovers au, beach day au

warning: explicit language

note: third installment to the skz cheese agenda (skcheese? lmao) + eun is the name of the mc from doll in this fic!

The occasional tourist would give you strange looks as they pass by, wondering why you and Chan would plant your tie dye mat and beach umbrella set so close to the waves crawling back and forth. The two of you have learned to ignore them over the summer years, however, too busy giggling over the way the water would tickle your bare feet on the hot sand and occasionally bring in the most random of objects. 

Especially now that an entire academic year of the two of you separated in different colleges has passed by, this being the first summer that the two of you could spend together leisurely without the worry of school requirements or part-time jobs in the city. 

As per your long-standing childhood beach tradition, the two of you compete in collecting 8 of the same things that you find under the sands or the waves bring in—this time with a carefree conversation on just about anything and everything that you’ve missed in each other’s life the past 10 months. It’s a tight battle this sunny Friday afternoon, with you guarding 6 olive shells in the space under your folded legs while Chan has a nice line of 5 cerith shells he’s worked hard in digging while ranting about one of his younger siblings hanging out with Seo Changbin. 

“Why are you being like this all of a sudden, anyway?” You chuckle in amusement as your conversation on tonight’s beach bonfire party suddenly finds its way back to Chan expressing his disapproval of the younger boy from your neighbourhood. “This is the first time I’ve heard you remotely close to being mad at someone and he’s not even some random stranger your sibling suddenly started hanging out with. It’s Seo Changbin. We literally raised that punk when we were kids.” 

“Exactly, it’s not ‘cause he’s some guy.” Chan pouts, angrily poking a random twig he found on the way to the beach into the sand and occasionally poking out a harmless crab crawling out of the little hole he’s made while picking up shells. “It’s because he’s Seo Changbin.” 

“So?” You shrug, feigning an innocent tone over your mischievous smirk as you watch him sulk next to you. Arms crossed over his bare chest and folded legs and chin resting on top of his folded free arm like a child, everything about him right now just simply looks so endearing and funny at the same time. “Isn’t that a bit better than just, say, a guy who suddenly popped up when we went to college? You know Changbin well enough and Eun definitely knows Changbin super well since they’re classmates. If he screws up, then you know where to find him. If he takes care of them, then you know how to thank them.” 

“Since I know him, I’d be more disappointed when he screws up.” Chan rolls his eyes, lazily tilting his head to the side to glance up at you waiting for the waves to come back. “Anyway, are we even talking about the same Changbin, Y/N? Even if we grew up with that punk, he also smokes, drinks, has a lot of tattoos and piercings, and scares a lot of his classmates.” 

This time, it’s you rolling your eyes as you try nudging him off-balance with your arm to his thigh. “It’s not like you didn’t smoke, drink, or got piercings with me without auntie’s permission when we were in high school. If anything, I’d like to think he got that from us.” You point out with a scoff of disbelief, eyeing the helix piercing on his right ear that now sports a safety pin earring different from your matching golden stud one. “Plus, you know Changbin only gets a bad rep in his batch because their classmates aren’t exactly the nicest people out there. He’s nice, has good grades, and he showed me his acceptance letter to my uni the other day. You’re just picking out ‘bad traits’ now because he’s dating your sibling.” 

“Ya—” 

You cut him off with a palm in front of his face immediately, sensing his pout grow bigger even with the back of your hand blocking his face. “Admit it or not, Eun’s an adult now who can date whoever they want, even a childhood friend. And Changbin’s a friend so I’m sure it’s all going to be fine.” With a giggle, you then use your other hand to pick up another olive seashell that washes up on shore as if on cue. “You have good intentions, I understand where you’re coming from, but you gotta stop worrying, you big baby. Just worry when Changbin does screw up—though if you’re asking me, I doubt he will.” 

Chan scrunches up his nose, just as another cerith shell surfaces from his mini excavation site on the sand. “Hm, I don’t know. I still can’t shake it off.” He practically whines like a child, his hold on the poor and almost broken twig loosening the more he thinks his thoughts and rants through. “How did this even happen? We literally raised Changbin and Eun ourselves when we were kids...”

You snicker at this, swiping an olive shell from his excavation site as you see it. “Now, you’re picking on him being a childhood friend? What’s your problem with that now?” 

Chan waves both of his hands up defensively in front of him, shaking his head. “It’s not like that! I don’t have problems with childhood friends dating or whatever, not at all! I’m just saying that, all of a sudden, Changbin’s taken an interest on my sibling! Doesn’t that sound a little random to you? Why now, when they’re about to leave for college?”

“Nope, it still sounds like you have a problem with childhood friends dating.” You teasingly accuse with a disapproving shake of your head before shrugging. “You know, sometimes stuff like that just happens! With people you’ve known for so long, sometimes you just fall for them out of nowhere because you start seeing them in a different light! I mean I, for one, like someone I’ve known for a really long time like Changbin but it’s only rece—”

“What?!—” 

“It’s only recent because I thought they were cute when I saw them again.” You finish your thought despite the abrupt shift in Chan’s expression. Eyes wide, posture suddenly straight and alert, and the twig branch in his hand held up like a threatening knife, you bite down your lips in between certain phrases and sentences as you hold back your laughs. “Maybe if we were like 16 again or something, I’d find it gross. But since we’ve been away from each other for a long time and have only been talking on call until lately, I miss hanging out with him and he’s super duper cuter now than before so—yeah, it just happens! It’s normal and totally not weird!” 

“Wha—you...you like someone?!” 

“That all you picked up from my long ass speech? That’s not even my point. My point was to defend Changbin and your sibling dating.” You furrow your brows and feign a frown. “I’m disappointed. You really are a big baby, barely comprehending anything in that pea brain. Oh dear...” 

But as if Chan’s thoughts are still transfixed on your previous statements, he ignores your mocking comment and repeats, “You like someone?! Do I know this guy? Also, what do you mean you’ve known him as long as Changbin and I and why don’t I know this gossip?! Ya, not you too, Y/N!” 

You tease him further with a shrug before picking up an olive shell that the wave brings in, exclaiming in victory. “Ha! I win!” You stick your tongue out at him, picking up your 8 little shells in your cupped hands. “I should make a bracelet out of this, ‘no? For cute guy I’ve known for a long time.” 

“Who is it?!” Chan pesters you even further, poking your rash guard with the twig branch. “Who’ve you been hanging out with since we were kids besides me and Changbin?!” 

“Don’t you worry about him, you big baby, he’s harmless.” You put your collected shells on the side and wave your sandy hand dismissively. “Now, I don’t think 8 shells are gonna cover your entire wrist so would you mind help me picking up more? We could walk a little and check the lagoon.” 

m.list

@skzwriternet