smowashere's Recent Activity
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smowashere liked cosmickid's post in the thread Band Fall Out Boy.
can someone who was in this fandom in 2008 describe what the vibe was like when folie came out? going through my annual obsessive FOB phase atm and it’s hard to envision this album being as maligned as the stories say
Oct 16, 2025 at 9:06 AM -
smowashere liked Cody's post in the thread Autographs in your music collection/musicians you have met.
*stands up* I am Groin
Oct 15, 2025 at 8:02 PM -
smowashere liked VanMastaIteHab's post in the thread Vampire Weekend - Only God Was Above Us (April 5, 2024).
I was watching with my mom and she knew all the answers from geography and I knew all the answers from the songs, it was fun lol.
Oct 15, 2025 at 7:59 PM -
smowashere liked williamryankey's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
I love that record as much as you do
Oct 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM -
smowashere liked williamryankey's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
Man that’s a bummer. It’s so hard when you’re choosing them for release because you’re not looking at images of physical records.
Oct 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM -
smowashere liked Cody's post in the thread Autographs in your music collection/musicians you have met.
“To Groin”
Oct 15, 2025 at 9:53 AM -
smowashere liked Allhailburnzy's post in the thread The Format - Boycott Heaven (January 23, 2026).
The Format was beginning to think the stars were aligned against them. Just as Nate Ruess and Sam Means were finally able to sort through the aftermath of the 2020 pandemic-which first stalled, then completely wiped out their last attempt at a reunion-tragedy struck again. On the very first day of recording new music in nearly 20 years with Grammy-winning producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, The Killers, Bruce Springsteen), the Los Angeles wildfires broke out, leaving devastation across the city. It was enough to inspire a little conspiratorial thinking. “It seriously felt like the universe was against us,” Ruess says, trailing off. “It was at least…” “It was testing us, for sure,” Means adds, finishing the thought. It’s no wonder that Boycott Heaven, their third album, is charged with there is no waiting on tomorrow energy. After all, if the universe was in fact putting you through your paces, how might you respond? Not on some far-off imagined judgement day, but right now? “Holy roller, don’t go wasting all your time,” Ruess sings in the boisterous single “Holy Roller.” In other words, the time for creating something more like heaven isn’t tomorrow or some other day, but today. A certain romantic fatalism has always coursed through The Format’s lyrics, which the more mature Ruess cops to in the heartland rocker “Shot in the Dark.” “Lived my whole life like I was ready to die,” he confesses over jangling guitars and stomping rhythms. But Boycott Heaven is filled with reflections on reasons to stick around this broken old world: family, life-long connections, distorted guitar riffs, and a stubborn belief that even as bad as it is, tomorrow could be better. Once it was safe to return, the duo got back to work at Henson Recording Studios. Sam and Nate both played electric guitars-Ruess having picked up the instrument in the years since The Format’s last album, in addition to launching a solo career, forming the chart-topping fun. with Jack Antonoff and Andrew Dost, and collaborating with P!nk, Kesha, and Hayley Williams of Paramore.) Their rhythm section was comprised of O’Brien on bass and drummer Matt Chamberlain (David Bowie, Bob Dylan, Soundgarden, Fiona Apple,). Fans of Interventions + Lullabies (2003) and Dog Problems (2006) will recognize the hooks and retro-pop bravado, but Boycott Heaven signals a new era. It’s not a nostalgia play, even as it incorporates sonic nods to the alt-rock, grunge, and pop-punk sounds Ruess and Means first bonded over as Arizona teenagers. “We first bonded listening to bands like Weezer, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots,” Ruesssays. “I’m a new guitarist, just enamored with power chords, so I’m listening to all this stuff we’d listen to back then and cross referencing—NOFX, Lagwagon. But you take that pop-punk stuff and slow it down, and then have Matt Chamberlain playing on it, and then it feels a little like grunge. All that’s in there.” “It does kind of bring us back,” Means says, not just in terms of time but “As a partnership, too. It feels like a cool extension of where we came from.” Though the concept of recording with a mega hit producer was intense at first, Means says O’Brien made it easy to focus on the music. “Brendan just being Brendan made it so that we could focus on being there to make a good record and have a good time,” he says. “Not that it wasn’t a whirlwind, cause it was. When it happened, it happened fast.” With steady hands like O’Brien and Chamberlain backing them up, Ruess and Means didn’t have to worry about second guessing the implications of following up their past work-the act of creating new sounds kept them entirely occupied. The results are diverse, from the power pop charger “Depressed,” which hinges on buzzsaw guitars and close harmonies, to the folk ballad “Right Where I Belong,” to the rousing anthem “No You Don’t,” which sounds like a lost Pinkerton B-side. Even as they disbanded, The Format never closed the door entirely to future collaboration. Steadily resisting the “emo nostalgia” bucks offered to them, Ruessfocused on new projects, and Means devoted himself to solo musical work and his independent music merchandise company, Hello Merch. When Ruess contacted him in August 2024, he didn’t realize that right away the band was actually flipping the switch into “new Format music mode”, though the work quickly revealed the path, and the two found that their years apart hadn’t dulled their creative psychic connection. “At first, we weren’t even sure,” Means says, noting that when Ruess reached out with set of guitar-based demos, a new mode for the mostly vocals-based composer, he thought they might be songs intended for the follow up to Ruess’ solo debut Grand Romantic(2015), but as they bounced ideas back and forth, it became clear what was happening. “It was like, ‘Well yeah, this is a Format record,’” Ruess says, “What else could it be?” Though Means admits he knows some people will read the words “boycott heaven” and immediately form an opinion, Ruess says the title came to him more or less by accident. “It was a hashtag on Twitter. I read ‘boycott heaven’ but it was ‘boycott Heineken,’” he says, stifling a laugh. “But I just thought the words sounded beautiful together. It’s not an anti-religion record—I think religion can be a beautiful thing—it’s just when something is out of balance, sometimes a boycott is in order.” Ruess cites Paul Schrader’s Ethan Hawke-staring masterpiece First Reformed (2017) as a major inspiration on the album, and just like that bleak, beautiful movie, Ruess doesn’t avoid thorny topics-from religion to fake friends, all while maintaining an empathetic stance that’s less about preaching and more about observing. “I would love nothing more than to write about the world in a cheesy way,” Ruess says with a wry laugh, but instead, Boycott Heaven portrays the world as it is: full of beauty, sadness, and always, no matter how hard to see, possibility. Following sold-out reunion gigs in Phoenix, Los Angeles, and New York, where songs from Boycott Heaven were debuted live, the new album signifies both a rebirth and continuation of The Format. When the band originally disbanded in 2008, their goodbye note made reference to a Twin Peaks DVD boxset Ruess and Means were passing back and forth, in an attempt to unravel the show’s mysteries. While cutting Boycott Heaven, Means insisted they devote a deep dive watch to 2017’s revival series, Twin Peaks: The Return. The mysteries-and the magic-remain. Like Mark Frost and the late David Lynch returning to their beloved fictional Washington town, Boycott Heaven is the product of two longtime confidants creating something they could only create together, changed by time but still tied to their roots. “Been gone for way too long,” Ruess sings on album closer “Back To Life.” “I never meant to say goodbye,” he follows up. The song signifies a new start, a new beginning, and a new chapter in the story of The Format.
Oct 14, 2025 at 1:32 PM -
smowashere replied to the thread The Format - Boycott Heaven (January 23, 2026).
And Detroit [MEDIA]
Oct 14, 2025 at 11:07 AM -
smowashere replied to the thread Tour Tour Prediction and Speculation Thread.
[MEDIA]
Oct 14, 2025 at 11:06 AM -
smowashere liked sawhney[rusted]2's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
If Better Days is the WYTTSY of this reunion, then the next record is going to be fucking insane. The bar has been set incredibly high. Such a gift that we have this band back, and as revitalized as they are.
Oct 13, 2025 at 9:11 AM -
smowashere liked earthlight's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
Perfectly said.
Oct 13, 2025 at 9:11 AM -
smowashere liked whaIes's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
honestly, the YC fanbase just wasn't quite ready for Lift a Sail when it came out, and that includes me. It was a big style change at a specific age and time in my life that was really tough. That said, we've all learned to appreciate it and that style since, I think. City of Angels would fit perfectly on there and now we all love it haha. Excited to see what's next for it
Oct 13, 2025 at 9:11 AM -
smowashere liked williamryankey's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
Hey. Guys. Just want to say for everyone who loves City of Angels (I am so fucking pumped on the reception for this song) that something so so so so rad is going to happen with it. I don’t know when exactly, but holy shit. We are in an alternate timeline. It’s just the only explanation
Oct 13, 2025 at 9:11 AM -
smowashere liked Surfwax's post in the thread Alien Boy - You Wanna Fade? (May 9, 2025).
Band fucking rules, saw them tonight. Hanging on hard as one of my favorite albums of the year, especially the deluxe version which has a couple of the best songs as bonus tracks. Just an awesome album
Oct 13, 2025 at 9:10 AM -
smowashere liked slimfenix182's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
That last minute plus of City Of Angels totally sounds like something blink could've done with Mark and Tom trading off lines
Oct 12, 2025 at 4:49 PM -
smowashere liked drummerAVA's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
City of Angels… holy “Lift A Sail” era!!!!
Oct 12, 2025 at 10:03 AM -
smowashere replied to the thread Vinyl Thread.
Phantom Planet’s Raise the Dead! (my fave of theirs) Phantom Planet
Oct 10, 2025 at 6:27 PM -
smowashere liked Dog Fish's post in the thread Yellowcard - Better Days (October 10, 2025).
"I'm too young, to be this old." This line hurts more than any lyric of the decade.
Oct 10, 2025 at 5:31 PM -
smowashere liked Micah511's post in the thread Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl (October 3, 2025).
I’m doing my part by streaming Golden 50 times
Oct 10, 2025 at 11:11 AM