When Did I Download This?

My band put out its first EP today. Listen here. 

Hey y’all. Haven’t been blogging for the past year or so in order to spend more free time on writing my own music. We released our first track this week and are very proud of it. Give it a listen! 

“Meridian” was debuted on All Things Go on Tuesday: http://www.allthingsgomusic.com/premiere-tiiidal-meridian/#/premiere-tiiidal-meridian/

And made its way to Hype Machine that evening: http://hypem.com/track/2bhjb/TIIIDAL+-+Meridian

Throw us some click love! 

Thanks,

Tiiidal

Top Fifteen Emo Songs ('94-'00)

(Preface)

8. Mineral // Parking Lot

Man, the chorus breakdown in this song is just so fucking good. That soaring lead guitar, the way the drums come crashing in, the melody, it doesn’t even require vocals to be one of the most rock’n’roll courses of the genre.

9. Jets to Brazil // Chinatown

10. Last Days of April // Aspirins and Alcohol

11. Knapsack // Decorate the Spine

12. Jimmy Eat World // Lucky Denver Mint

13. American Football // Honestly?

14. Engine Down // Depth Perception

Top Fifteen Emo Songs ('94-'00)

(Preface)

9. Jets to Brazil // Chinatown

I’m not exactly sure what “Chinatown” is about. Singer Blake Schwarzenbach has stated one of his all time favorite movies is of the same name, and if I had to guess I’d think he is using the film to metaphor a break up. Whatever the case may be the sparse instrumentation, the quiet/loud dynamics, the tone and the encrypted storytelling all make “Chinatown” a personal favorite. Though Schwarzenbach has always been a fantastic lyricist dating back to his Jawbreaker days, this track contains some of his best lines:

I’m just a question knowing my answer I hope I’m wrong

Staying up later waking up old and I’m leaving her never / Ordering in all friends and lovers / And we’re making our weather with a lone light bulb

10. Last Days of April // Aspirins and Alcohol

11. Knapsack // Decorate the Spine

12. Jimmy Eat World // Lucky Denver Mint

13. American Football // Honestly?

14. Engine Down // Depth Perception

Top Fifteen Emo Songs ('94-'00)

(Preface)

10. Last Days of April // Aspirins and Alcohol

For a while there Deep Elm was putting out records from some really creative groups. Last Days of April is still their best. The creative collective of Karl Larsson from Stockholm, Sweden, Last Days of April sounds like a melting pot of all those late and great 90’s emo bands (Jimmy Eat World, Promise Ring, Mineral, SDRE). But Larsson has such a good ear for pop melodies some of his songs hold up better than a lot of those from his influences. Their best record is Angel Youth and the pinnacle of the record is “Aspirins and Alcohol.” The lyrics are self-loathingly cliche for the genre but who can’t use a good self-pity party every once in a while, especially when it coincides with a melody as catchy as this one?

11. Knapsack // Decorate the Spine

12. Jimmy Eat World // Lucky Denver Mint

13. American Football // Honestly?

14. Engine Down // Depth Perception

Top Fifteen Emo Songs ('94-'00)

(Preface)

11. Knapsack // Decorate the Spine

Before the likes of the Get Up Kids and Saves the Day, both of whom gained moderate success during the last half of the 90’s, Knapsack was essentially creating that brand of pop-punk and emo. Their best song is “Decorate the Spine,” a fast-paced rocker clocking in under three minutes that utilizes those 90’s quiet/loud dynamics and some great vocal pitch shifts to add some extra umph to the courses.

12. Jimmy Eat World // Lucky Denver Mint

13. American Football // Honestly?

14. Engine Down // Depth Perception

Top Fifteen Emo Songs ('94-'00)

(Preface)

12. Jimmy Eat World // Lucky Denver Mint

Looking back 1999’s Clarity was a huge turning point for emo. Maybe the most ambitious and expensive album of its genre, it never garnered the commercial success Capitol Records hoped it would and they were dropped from their label. But “Lucky Denver Mint” was a successful enough single to be included on the Never Been Kissed soundtrack, which I’m pretty sure marks the first time a song by an emo band had been added to a film.

13. American Football // Honestly?

14. Engine Down // Depth Perception

Top Fifteen Emo Songs ('94-'00)

(Preface)

13. American Football // Honestly?

Out of all of the many, many bands to form out of Cap’n Jazz, Mike Kinsella has all of my favorite offshoots and side projects. In Cap’n Jazz and Make Believe he shows off his drumming prowess, but it’s in his solo project Owen, and fan favorites American Football where he demonstrates his songwriting capabilities. “Honestly?” is their best track, a song that perfectly encapsulates the ways in which we distort and confuse our teenage memories and what they mean to us now.

14. Engine Down // Depth Perception

Top 15 Emo Songs ('94-'00)

(preface)

14. Engine Down // Depth Perception

Before Keeley Davis became the lead guitarist for Sparta, he was the frontman for an incredibly innovative emo/post-hardcore band called Engine Down. “Depth Perception” is their masterpiece, a seven minute long opus that packs a build-up, a breakdown, cello, synths, two vocalists, and some seriously kick-ass percussion all into one song.

I still play this track at least a few times a month.

Top Fifteen Emo Songs (‘94-’00):

(Preface)

15. Death Cab for Cutie // 405