Let's talk about pop punk. Usually if I feel I'm over-playing a CD in my car, I mix it up with some tunes from the past. I have this massive stack of CD's in my glove compartment for this very purpose. I was going through them and said no to Anti-Flag, Lagwagon, No Use For A Name, Bad Astronaut, Gaslight Anthem, etc etc. 90% of the time I go through these CD's, I pass up on the Rufio/Saves The Day mix. This time it was different!
I will always consider Rufio's Perhaps I Suppose one of the all time great pop punk CD's. The lyrics are SO cheesy in most all of the songs and his voice is so damn high pitched. But every single song except "Face The Truth" is absolutely incredible. My favorites were "Above Me," "Still," "In My Eyes," "Just A Memory," "Dipshit," "Road To Recovery," "Selfishness," and "Save The World." Save The World and Road To Recovery are probably the top among those but In My Eyes will always be a stand out seeing as to how it was the first Rufio song I heard. Listening to pop punk back then was different. It was about 2003/2004 and that was when the whole pop punk deal was still really in. I remember walking down halls and seeing tons of the same Taking Back Sunday and Ataris shirts. I had a Rufio shirt! It was awesome. I think about 3 or 4 different girls wore it at one point. Fuck, the shirt was actually with a girl in another country for two years. It's been around. But pop punk was my deal in those young days. I loved Brand New, Saves The Day, Audio Karate, New Found Glory, Punchline, Rufio, even Yellowcard's "One For The Kid's." But at the same time, I was listening to Bad Religion's "Process Of Belief" and Anti-Flag's "A New Kind Of Army." I still really do enjoy pop punk.
Can we talk about Audio Karate? Talk about underrated. Imagine Rufio's music mixed with Saves The Day's vocal melodies but with a much more raspy and emotional voice. I was really big into electric guitar when I first heard them and I remember thinking they were a gift from the God (that I'm not too sure I believe in) sent to me so I could learn their bad ass songs. "Gypsy Queen" is hands down their best song. But it suffers the same symptoms as the NUFAN and Thrice albums mentioned in past blogs. Speaking of NUFAN...
No Use For A Name-This Is A Rebel Song. God this song is amazing. I miss octave harmonies like that. Not many bands do it anymore. I remember the first time I heard it back in 03' and just being blown away. I didn't get really into listening to it till the summer of 04. What a summer that was. Pop punk galore. Good times all around. I should listen to more pop punk music. I feel like those were some of the happiest days of my life. Being young is just something you only get once. I know I'm still 19 and way young but damn, there was something special about being 14, involved with girls, drinking for the first time, and having your parents drop you off everywhere you went.
I have a confession. I'm a dork. I'm a geek. I'm a nerd. All when it comes to music. I always knew that I had a passion for music, but I didn't know I was a geek about it until recently. A few months ago I met a girl and obviously when that happens you get to know one another. I found myself referring just about EVERYTHING to music. Not intentionally. I wasn't trying to impresss. But it just seemed like everything that I talked about had to do with music. I would point out when I heard descending minor 3rds through out the day which is all the time. I would get super excited if I heard Bach or any other composer on TV. I would bitch about theory homework. I would bitch about pretty much anything that doesn't involve music. I would get excited about ear training homework or about how much I practiced that day. I would just refer EVERYTHING to music and I all of a sudden found out that I'm just a straight up geek. Just listen to 5 minutes of a conversation between me and Josh and you'd notice. Think about it. Past present and future of my life is music. I already have a live journal, myspace and facebook, yet I still didn't feel those were enough to get all my thoughts about music out there! Good thing I'm going to a conservatory with hundreds of kids just like me if not worse right? I'm so excited for that. I'm going to be living here. I've elected not to have a room-mate for my first semester.
One more kick ass note. I talked with my scholarship committee and they let me go below 12 hours for the semester! Which is great because there was no way I was going to pass history. Why? Because I hate history and knowing what happened in US history won't help my music career. I skipped the class so much. There was a 2 week period where I didn't show up. And then English? HA! One of the most bad ass moments in my life was when she told me to write a creative essay as to why I didn't do my homework and I wrote a page as to why English doesn't mean shit to me and that I didn't have time for her bullshit stories. That I've got a great career ahead of me and that her class wouldn't help me in the least bit. I haven't been to that class since late January. So I have no academic classes! And I won't ever need them now that I'm going to a conservatory!
I need more Descendents. More Bomb The Music Industry! I need to get "Above This City" by Smoke Or Fire. And a little more Joey Cape never hurt anyone.
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