That's what I was going to say. Their first two albums were fantastic, kinda flew under the radar after coming out the same time The Killers got big. Last album was terrible. But they could of bounced back from it. They had a lot of potential. Also The Junior Varsity. They were awesome.
Fountains of Wayne are one of my favorite bands of all-time. There hasn't been any news on them since their last album in 2011, though. Also, a favorite album of mine is Front of the Parade by The Muckrakers, a very underrated band that just sort of...
I'll say this one because I was just writing a piece about them for Modern Vinyl... Valencia. And Shane Henderson in general. Made a few of my favorite albums and then just vanished. I have no idea what happened to Shane's Future Perfect project either.
That's the one I was writing about! That and Shane's Promise of Redemption album still hit me so hard. We All Need a Reason to Believe is one of my favorite pop punk albums and I really wish Valencia had stuck around. Feel like the genre could have used more albums from them.
Didn't know you wrote for MV, I look forward to reading the piece! I don't really listen to pop punk much anymore but this is one album I will always come back to.
yes to whoever said Powerspace. they released the most energetic, catchy album i've ever heard and then parted with the singer to form a terrible glam metal band with a piece of shit vocalist who's now in jail. i remember loving three Daphne Loves Derby songs a long time ago, but never getting around to listening to the full album. i did now, and it's great. the lead singer is now married and a scientist, so that's cool, even though a reunion must be out of question.
Still one of my favorite bands to this day, but their farewell show was probably the biggest trainwreck of a live set that I've ever seen.
Oh God, how much time ya got? Glad to see The Forecast and Park mentioned right off the bat. I'll throw The Graduate in there for the central Illinois triple play. Also, The Actual. They weren't anything revolutionary, but they were a fine fucking rock n roll band and they deserved more attention than they got. They had the killer hooks and sharp lyrics, but things just never seemed to pan out. The singer/songwriter is the son of Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein, so ya know the guy can write a bit. Anyways, I highly recommend checkin em out.
Haha I was at that. "COME SEE ME OUTSIDE AFTER THE SHOW AND I'LL TAKE YA TO ANOTHER FUCKIN PLANET" -- Asa Dawson The come back show they did in Springfield back in 2010 (I think?) was rad though.
I can't remember why I didn't go to the reunion show. Might have been my graduation day or prom or something like that. I wish those guys were still playing in bands. I know Andy has Fast Astronaut, but he wasn't touring with them when they came through Illinois.
Yeah I feel like there was a lot of talent in our little scene that never really got to reach its full potential. But, times goes by and people get adult jobs and married and kids and what can ya do. Hopefully we keeping getting reunion shows every couple years. Here's a vid from the 2010 TJV show. More than made up for the shitty "final" show.
Jason Lancaster. I know Go Radio kinda struck their thing, but I feel like after Lucky Street, he just slowly faded away. I always felt like he had so much potential and never found his groove after Go Radio called it. I think he'd make a great folk album, always thought he was a great songwriter. I was also convinced he would jump back in with Mayday.
Also, Windsor Drive. Probably not as well known, but they were a local band from my hometown. They toured with Mae on their last tour and the word was that they were on the cusp. And then it just ended. I see the singer from time to time at Starbucks but he never really elaborates on what happened or what is happening.
I was sure that he would would be back with mayday before they had released this most recent album. I just felt it. But sadly that wasn't the case.
I just started contributing in January or something, so I haven't written that much yet. But I really enjoy their various features so it's fun getting to write those. That's basically what I wrote about it. I think it has an emotional heft and authenticity that most albums in the genre don't. I thought Close the Distance was such a great record and was really looking forward to hearing more from him. But his solo album kind of fell flat for me. Hope he bounces back with whatever he does next.