My Vinyl/Wax/Frisbees

Hostage Calm: Die On Stage

The final release of Hostage Calm and one of my favorite albums of this time period. To me this sounds like a pop punk album mixed with a 50’s style and I fucking love it. The only thing that I can sort of compare it to a bit is maybe a few tracks from Valencia’s ‘Dancing With A Ghost’. Please come back Hostage Calm! I’d love to hear these songs live!

Hostage Calm: Please Remain Calm

Once again, the band releases a banger album and puts their beliefs on their sleeve. There was some controversy around the release of this album because the band released pro LGBTQ shirts that caused an uproar in some backwoods church. I really miss this damn band.

Hostage Calm: Hostage Calm

This is the first album where the band started evolving their sound and damn is it good. This band really doesn’t sound like any other band I’ve ever come across. I miss Hostage Calm.

Hostage Calm: Lens

I was super late on the Hostage Calm train (like discovered them when their last album came out and they split up shortly after). Anyway, I went back through their whole catalog and dove in. This is their first LP and it feels borderline hardcore, but you can hear the ingredients for their future records.

Hoobastank: The Reason

Everyone knows this album for the title track, but dig deeper and the whole album is another good pop rock soundtrack. I got a free copy of this from the record store I worked at in college and I’m glad I didn’t give up on the band until after this album.

Hoobastank: Hoobastank

Growing up in the 90’s, I grew to love alternative rock and had a rock radio station that I listened to until it became uncool to listen to the radio (because they started only playing white trash rock). Anyway, I enjoyed Hoobastank. They reminded me of Incubus in a way and is one of the pop rock bands that just hooked me.

Home Grown: Kings Of Pop

This is the band’s first Drive Thru Records album and man I used to play this nonstop when it came out. It was the peak of the band and I’m glad I got to witness it. This is what catchy pop punk should sound like.

Home Grown: Act Your Age

I discovered Home Grown at a Reel Big Fish show and I already loved pop punk, so I was absorbing every pop punk band I could find and I had just heard they had signed to Drive Thru Records, my favorite label. This album is really good 90’s pop punk, before Enema of the State came out and changed the sound of every pop punk band out there.

Hit The Lights: Skip School, Start Fights

Hit the Lights 2.0 with a new lead singer was just as good as the original. Their sound updated a bit and had a bit more of the ‘neon’ pop punk sound that was trending at the time. As pop punk started to lose traction in the mainstream around this time, Hit The Lights and All Time Low were keeping it together in the underground (until ATL blew up). I really think this is the best pop punk album of this mini era.

Hit The Lights: This Is A Stickup, Don’t Make It A Murder

When I first heard this album, it reminded me of Fall Out Boy’s Take This To Your Grave. It was fast paced, catchy and had some very smooth vocals. This was the only album with this lead singer. He sounded a bit like Jordan from New Found Glory.

The Higher: Elvis In Wonderland

This was another free album sent to me with another purchase. I’ll be honest, I think I may have only listened to this once, so I don’t have much information on it.

Hidden In Plain View: Life In Dreaming

This is a classic New Jersey album from the early 2000’s. I love an album that has a lot of different sounding songs on it and this one really doesn’t have anything to compare it to-in my opinion.

HEY-SMITH: Life In The Sun

This band is modern fast paced ska punk from Japan. I don’t remember where I stumbled upon them, but the music is infectious and really reminds me of ska’s heyday back in the 90’s.

Helen Earth Band: We Fucking Quit

This was a free album that was sent when I ordered another album through a label. I had never heard of this band, but it’s a good album and I love getting free records.

Heart To Gold: Tom

This album wasn’t quite as raw as COMP, but I still really liked it. Every once in a while I’ll play this and feel a little younger.

Heart To Gold: COMP

I went through a phase that I was checking out anything related to Midwest emo and I came across Heart To Gold. This album just pulled me in. I can’t put my finger on what made me like this album so much, but I was hooked.

Hawthorne Heights: The Silence In Black and White

It’s hard to believe this band got as popular as they did in the mainstream. If memory is correct, this is the first band that got mainstream attention that had screaming in their songs as part of the music itself. It was well constructed and very catchy. Hawthorne Heights were another band that laid the foundation for A Day To Remember.