I was 10. Didn’t really get into them til I saw the “This Ain’t A Scene” music video when I was 12 on MTV, but that changed my whole taste in music
Same, except the first time I saw that video my classmates were watching it on Youtube via proxy at school and talking about how they were mocking Avenged Sevenfold's video for Seize the Day with Joe shredding on the casket.
i was 13 when this came out. i remember the original sugar, we're going' down video where it was short clips of the band playing shows and fucking around on tour. no idea if that video still exists or if i dreamt it.
FUCT changed my life twice. I was 12 when it dropped. 19 when every Google search of my name ended with the album title. Today I’m re-reading my essay about the album and what it meant to me then as well as a short retrospective I wrote 5 years ago. First it opened me up to a world of new and incredibly impactful music. Then it validated my place in it.
I first heard Dance, Dance on Now That's What I Call Music 21 while taking the bus to middle school because I only had a portable CD player lol. I think that was 2006 because I was in 6th grade
Because my parents are immigrants, I only got into English language music a bit later in life of my own accord, first of which was rock music. (But they loved Motown and soul music which I feel like unites the Black diaspora lol). First, Chris Payne, author of Where Are Your Boys Tonight (book about emo's mainstream explosion), wrote this thoughtful article about From Under the Cork Tree (FUCT) to celebrate 20 years of this incredibly influential album and one of my absolute faves. He writes, "Whenever I listen to Cork Tree for the first time in a while, I realize I forgot how heavy it is." It makes me realize it's not a coincidence that I got into hardcore after listening to this album, not long after my sheltered and religious childhood. Though I was basically on my way there, FOB pushed me there with Pete's screams lol. "I Slept With Someone..." remains one of my fave songs along with "XO". Ugh and I never get sick of "Dance, Dance". The pre-chorus is epic. Next, about the accusations about plagiarism- we don't know anything on FUCT besides Wes Eisold from American Nightmare being named as "inspirador" in the liner notes and "why put a new address on the same old loneliness" is on a Magnolia Electric Co. song (also that band is amazing). So many bands draw inspiration from other bands- "A Praise Chorus" is one of my favorite Jimmy Eat World songs. And on Infinity on High, Eisold is credited on some tracks which he co-wrote the lyrics on with Pete and has said was "blown out of proportion" after a lawsuit. At least, that's all I know from what I've read. Nevertheless, Pete is responsible for so many lyrics I love. I love Joe's riffs. Patrick is an epic singer who I can't get enough of. And Andy's drumming takes this band to another level. Then on IOH, they finally leaned into what made them so special with Patrick's R&B vocals! Anyway, this took me too long to write. Enough with my love letter to this band.
Also, not lost on me are these articles shared in the Accountability thread that I've linked below. I hate how FOB fans try to erase the very real suffering the younger girl (emphasize on girl) in question has gone through as a result of her relationship with Pete. As far as I know, she wants to be left alone which everyone should respect. In tandem, first, it's hard to ignore a story in a fucking Rolling Stone feature that includes Pete's much younger girlfriend. Then, a disturbing story about Pete punching out random car windows after he learned that she may be cheating on him.