BLOOD BATH AND BEYOND

the eps

i grouped the eps together because it's not like they were that long in the first place. mostly ac and bl centric but there's a hint of cluster recs in here since i feel those influences more overlap with double dare's in a different way tbh.

chase the white whale - driver friendly: arguably there is no waterparks or awsten making music without this album. only band to play with pretty much all of awsten's bands growing up.

piano fingers ep - zap em dead bartholomew: a local band awsten said he missed in a 2013 ask.fm. kind of like a rougher chiodos and i genuinely can't tell if this is a christcore band or not.

the flamingo trigger - foxy shazam: the first album from foxy that awsten was bumping while mowing lawns, specifically the first track on this. i don't really know how else to describe this other than crazy rock where things just happen and eric does a richard nixon impression during the second song.

songs not to get married to - reggie and the full effect: awsten and otto used to overplay a reggie song not on this album but i included this album bc it has less random skits between songs and it has "get well soon" which is a great one.

to silently provoke the ghost - the photo atlas: i found this one through awsten's myspace playlist believe it or not. gives me airplane convos vibes and has some unique guitar sounds i feel.

wonderland - forgive durden: probably one of my favorite underappreciated fbr albums that's a loose concept album basically an urban alice in wonderland. i feel like the vibe jumps a lot but it has that sort of grungy city vibe that i feel you can hear in songs like they all float.

for when you're falling backwards - rome hero foxes: this is actually a band that opened for parx when they were local (and under a different name usually). good ep if you like the moody wailing guitars of cluster.

heroine - from first to last: ok this is more of a double dare reference than an eps one: "listening to the latest plague / i breathe nostalgia til i'm bored". the latest plague is a song on this album and i feel like its rougher elements and semi electronic production make it more of an eps sorta rec for me.

the scene aesthetic - the scene aesthetic: great album if you like myspace singer-songwriter stuff that's guitar driven and usually acoustic. i believe awsten opened for them in one of his old bands and i think their lyrics have a similar playfulness and desire to them like early parx.

double dare

these recs are lowkey the only reason i wanted to make other recs for the other albums.

smile, and wave - sainte: the colorful pop rock from tay jardine and some other members from we are the in crowd. i swear some of the programming effects in technicolor are the same ones used in i'll always be around.

hello fascination - breathe carolina: i would say this is a classic (but that's technically in the name of their other album). nothing gets more scene and also listenable than this and were usually one of two groups that double dare was compared to (also awsten did open for them for one of his old bands).

cannibal + animal - kesha: i forgot cannibal was technically just an ep deluxe and animal was its own thing ok. here for obvious reasons.

one of the boys - katy perry: great pop rock album and awsten praises her in an early altpress interview of theirs: "Girl-pop, to me, is the best genre [in music]. Even if you don’t speak English and you hear a Kesha song or a Katy Perry song, it’s going to sound so good."

zombies! aliens! vampires! dinosaurs! - hellogoodbye: the other group double dare usually got comparisons to. emo pop with all its guitars and beep boop greatness.

take it to the floor - cash cash: its lead single is mentioned in awsten's book: "I can guarantee that if the same music fans of today were around back then, they’d absolutely be bumping “Party In Your Bedroom” by Cash Cash because what a fucking hit."

ever after - marianas trench: because awsten wants to be a guy who writes a hit pop song and josh ramsay of marianas trench literally wrote "call me maybe". also "haven't had enough" is just giving me beginning of take her to the moon vibes.

beneath it all - hey monday: this was more power pop coming from hey monday but i think that makes this more similar to double dare than anything else in their discography. i think cassadee and awsten were separated twins from another life.

feel good now - the ready set: emo electropop greatness. awsten probably wishes he wrote "hollywood dream".

entertainment

ok this is where i start being more wishy washy with recs bc i start being here for the rest of the albums so it becomes partially stuff i associate with that time along with influences and common comparisons or people awsten was generally around. i did mostly try to base this around entertainment's synthy gloom though.

to forgive - lophiile: this guy used to be in the band issues as the dj along with his brother skylar acord (who might also be known now as a twenty one pilots touring member) and produces for a lot of big names, but this ep suits the melancholic feeling entertainment has along with a lot of interesting production choices.

walking with strangers - the birthday massacre: this might a little more goth than anything to compare to waterparks but it's purple and it has synth rock elements so i'm putting it here.

flower boy - tyler the creator: this is probably the most popular album on here but i still put it because i'm pretty sure parx fans are so white they've only heard this album through edit tiktoks. awsten obviously takes inspiration from tyler and what is more like awsten than a deeply personal album dealing with sexuality, depression, rising fame, and love (but perhaps tyler wins at executing that though).

nostalgia - chase atlantic: i remember when these guys were everywhere but then i think more people realized they were white guys in braids so everyone starting growing out of it. not a bad ep and it leans more vaguely indie rockish than their other releases and also they were under mddn at the same time as parx so best believe there's pictures of them together.

air guitar - sobs: possibly the greatest indie pop rock album i've heard in a long while. if you like sparkly sorta songs like peach this entire album is like that with a lot of yearning lyrics behind a deceptively happy tune.

siberia - lights: an electropop album that makes me feel like i was left out in the canadian cold. she technically toured with parx during the tailend of a different album but i like this one too.

the world you want to see - glacier veins: i feel like if you wanted an album that was most similar in vibes to entertainment and focused less on electronic elements, it's this one. really great album that captures that late 2010s dream rock vibe i like.

bambi - hippo campus: me and my friends had a whole campaign to get awsten to listen to this album and it failed spectacularly. anyways this album isn't too similar to entertainment but i do think both albums have these similar jarring vibe shifts from song to song but in a good way.

pain / ache / loving - hunny: remember when grown adults tried cancelling jason for getting wine drunk and vaping when they opened for parx. wow. anyways great ep and very yearning with enough keys and guitar and some 80s influence everyone kept having that i'm comparing it to entertainment.

fandom

ok we're getting to the part with albums i don't actively listen to lmao. i tried choosing things from what i remember of them along with influences but i will admit influences are kinda carrying most of these.

because the internet - childish gambino: this is here for obvious reasons. i feel that fandom is the most rap influenced album (for better or for worse) and this is literally one of awsten's favorite albums of all time and you can hear that bombastic influence in a lot of their bigger songs.

decadence - head automatica: parx had a slow cover version of beating heart baby from this album, but if you actually listen to the album it's more similar to stuff parx usually makes. basically if you wanted an album to be like watch what happens next but with more dance punk elements.

while the city streets, we rule the streets - cobra starship: ok i'm cheating at my own rules here but this is an underappreciated cobra album and awsten likes them anyway. it has all the purposefully shallow party songs but also throws you a bone with its oddly reflective bookends and a song about kidnapping someone in your basement which i feel like in another life awsten would've written.

beautiful oblivion - issues: ok this is the part where i'm gonna have to start putting disclaimers i think. i thought this was a good album that had issues experiment more with their nu metal sound and rnb and funk in a similar way to how awsten tried fusing more rap elements in fandom and i know awsten definitely has listened to issues and was pictured with their lead singer, but too bad that guy sucks. support the rest of the band in their new ventures if you can, fuck tyler carter.

the life of pablo - kanye west: i haven't actually listened to this album even in the rare instances i've listened to kanye in the past, it was like the really old shit and pre kanye's antisemitic rants and chud psychosis i guess awsten would be one of the first to tell you he liked this guy's music. so much so that he actually references a line in this album in "worst" and it makes me cringe very hard because those are not the same things at all. he is so white.

in search of... - n.e.r.d.: i feel like this is more of a general influence for parx, but i think the general braggadocious attitude and rap rock of it make it more fandom leaning to me. i'm pretty sure awsten has put n.e.r.d. songs on his playlists before.

this island - le tigre: i was kinda torn between choosing this or their self titled but this one is a little more pop than their other releases so it goes here. also awsten has worn some cheap copy of the kathleen hanna quote "girls to the front" before.

anger management - rico nasty: i used to bump this shit all the time in high school and it still holds up. basically a mixtape that goes from rico at her angriest before she mellows out at the end which is kinda like fandom structure wise.

smile! :D - porter robinson: i feel like i'm cheating with this because this album was also originally called fandom at some point but i think it tackles that aspect better than this one lmao. if you wanted the electronic pop rock of fandom that has a little more self reflection within all the internet silliness, this is your guy.

greatest hits

hey we're back to albums i listen to again lmao.

think: peace - clarence clarity: i like how insane all this guy's solo work sounds like. might be known best as the producer of rina sawayama's early work and his solo work is like an electronic experimental soundscape he wails in sometimes and it's awesome. if you like the experimental electronic elements of gh you might like this.

wflytd - six impala: i just found out one of the people in this is underscores. the more you know. i found this electronic band online around this time and i think it's pop hooks and unpredictable song structure makes it a good listen

tyrannosaurus hives - the hives: one of the influences awsten cites for this album is the hives and he didn't name a specific album (probably because they kinda do the same thing every time but they're really good at it) so i just chose one i'd assume awsten would be mainly referencing.

food house - food house: if you like the absurd bullshit that happens in gh, this is like 99% absurd bullshit idk just listen.

soul kiss - haru nemuri + frost children: this collab ep is mainly classified as electronic rock with a lot of fuzzy bass moments and rough vocal elements. also most of this is in japanese. really good if you like more electronic rock songs like magnetic or arguably, fuzzy.

significant other - limp bizkit: mainly here because of the "break stuff" reference in "see you in the future". i still think it's a good nu metal album on its own but listening to it makes me feel like i grew a van dyke beard.

no gods no masters - garbage: this was an album that actually came out a couple weeks after gh and it was more of a politically fueled electronic rock album instead of escaping into fantasy like greatest hits. a good listen if you wanted a pandemic era album that was a little more serious with its topics while still having that futuristic sound.

broke with expensive taste - azealia banks: wow isn't it crazy her and awsten are like the same age and she still only has one album and he has six. really groundbreaking album that did a lot of genre mixing with rap that was unseen before. too bad she sucks in almost every aspect outside of making this album and a handful of singles.

treats - sleigh bells: this isn't that much of a niche pull for tumblr, but the unapologetically brash and loud sounds of this album remind me of gh. also parx's first photographer likes this band a lot so i figured i'd put this here bc awsten probably listened through her.

intellectual property

and we are back to albums i dont like lmao. this is mostly relying on my knowledge of his influences, the fact that they were signed to fbr, and the fact that i think this album can sound overly saccharine to peddle to mainstream radio.

the same old blood rush with a new touch - cute is what we aim for: a somewhat overlooked fbr classic i feel. power pop/pop rock with sexual themes that make me go i'm not sure i believe someone that looks like you and has this terrible ennunciation is having this much sex but ok like i do with ip. also the lyrics "you are a sellout but you couldn't even do that right" is how i feel about ip.

made in the a.m. - one direction: i never actually listened to 1d outside stuff i heard on the radio ryan ross was already too complicated for me when i was 10 and 1d would've been too much for me to handle. anyways this is mostly here bc of julian bunetta's contributions to 1d specifically to olivia, one of awsten's favorite 1d songs and is on this album and i assume one of the driving reasons he wrote on ip.

from the outside - hey violet: i also haven't listened to this outside songs i heard in grocery stores and stuff. also here for the bunetta writing and because i think ip's sex songs are like "guys my age" except for a 32 year old with arrested development and sexuality issues.

nine track mind - charlie puth: this is the only album by this guy i've listened to vaguely because i saw him once and it has most of the radio hits you'd know. every parx song that sounds bad in a specifically really straining white way is usually because awsten is trying to rip off charlie puth (see: end of the water)

symphony solider - the cab: it feels weird putting an album i actually like on here for an album i don't like. putting this here because of the cab's status as fbr veterans and the fact that this is a damn good pop rock album without having to overly appeal to the mainstream and also has a lot of string sections which sets it apart from other pop rock that was popular at the time.

off the deep end - the friday night boys: pretty much your standard faire of fbr branded emo pop. mainly putting this here because the lead singer andrew goldstein ended up writing on "self sabotage" and "ritual" and i feel like you can tell.

murder - vincente void: mainly here because he was featured on ip lol this sounds nothing like ip it's mainly trap metal and then throws k-rnb at you in the second half. apparently vincente has known awsten since he was 13 in local bands and he encouraged him to get on stage so that's how they know each other.

stuck on repeat - stereo skyline: probably the epitome of saccharine emo pop. i listen to some of the songs on this when it comes on shuffle, but i can't listen to a full run of this album without feeling like a 13 year old girl being crooned to. sometimes ip feels as sickeningly sweet as this and adds a poorly inserted sex or jesus reference.

whatever - hot chelle rae: more early 2010s emo pop you know probably at least two songs from this on the radio. it's pretty basic of an album but i still listen to it sometimes so.

jinx

ok this one is a little all over the place as i didn't really know what to put since the album could be a little all over the place and i didn't feel like adding more album slots for #consistency. honorable mentions for razia's shadow by forgive durden and d12 world by d12.

is a real boy - say anything: if you liked the solo version of "tell me why" and wanted an emo rock musical that wasn't going 5000mph in your ear, listen to this album right now. it's good as fuck. awsten used to talk to matt bemis when they first signed to evr and i know otto is still a fan of say anything himself.

before i leave your mind - dacey: an album i like that i would broadly describe as indie/alternative rnb but there's some more rock and funk elements than that. deals with a lot of similar lyrical themes of love and damaged relationships and a standout i would compare mostly to jinx is "vulture".

rock steady - no doubt: here for obvious gwen stefani reasons. good album also parx has covered hella good at warped in 2018 once.

ok i'm sick - badflower: an underappreciated peer in the band sphere of waterparks these days i'm surprised they haven't toured together josh is like the pansexual slutty mankisser everyone projects onto awsten. an alt rock album that deals with a variety of problems from sex to love to medication to suicide to a lot of other things. it's a good listen if you're more interested in lyrical narratives with a rock sound like. half of jinx.

hyperviolence - omerta: also a vincente void produced album. it pushes nu metal to its newest limits with in your face, violent lyrics without much of a care in the world. great if you like stuff like tastes like tangerine but want something heavier.

patience - mannequin pussy: i feel like overall this is the album most like jinx at its best as its a damn good rock album that deals with insecurities, love, other people's expectations and also isn't afraid to dip into more hardcore interludes along with some of the moping.

hiding inside the horrible weather - my american heart: this is a lighter entry in this band's discography as most of it up to this point was straight up emo and this is more like emo rock with power pop and sometimes even jazz elements. mostly putting this here because its first track "boys! grab your guns" as i think it somewhat parallels "girls need guns" with less abortion advocacy and more about toxic masculinity and becoming deluded with violence.

digital spaces - let's get it: is album is basically neon pop punk except more theatrical. lots of orchestral midi and idk i just think it sounds good if you wanted more emo theater kid shit without feeling like you're in hazbin hotel.

used and abused - danger radio: one of my favorite albums. a really sassy neon pop punk/dance rock album that has a real groove to it. lyricially deals a lot with relationships and delusion and also is led by one of the guys from the scene aesthetic. listen to this album right now.