Glassjaw Band • Page 8

My second favorite.

 

I love Coloring Book, but I usually skip Miracle in Inches and Stations of the New Cross.

 

Just wanted to follow up on this post because a couple people brought it to our attention and we wanted to make sure those people were aware that we were not ignoring it. A handful of mods discussed the issue of grappling with dark/wrong/harmful lyrical content, and it's one of the more difficult issues we have to deal with not only on the forum, but in our own lives as music listeners.

We want to make it clear that we take it seriously when someone tells us a post or a thread is making them feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. In this case, we feel like @JM95's post is an example of the "right" way to discuss these issues and themes. That is not to say that it's "right" to enjoy harmful content, but many of chorus and absolutepunk's most widely listened-to artists have released material with similar themes. That is to say, we know that many users (myself included) struggle with this conflict of enjoying art with difficult or harmful themes.

Ultimately, we feel that if you are able to express your thoughts in such a way that 1) explains why you listen to something despite your reservations about doing so, and 2) doesn't attack anyone else for their choice to not listen, then that's the most we can really ask for and we hope others dealing with these issues will conduct themselves in a similar fashion.

Again, I don't want to brush off anyone's concerns, so if you want to discuss these things further, please feel free to PM me or another mod (as I said, this was a group discussion).

 

Just listened to both the 2011 EPs for the first time in a while. Yeah, easily my favorite material from this band. W&T will always hold a special place in my heart for introducing me to hardcore, but those EPs are just next level. John Lennon, Stars, Black Nurse, Daytona White, All Good Junkies.... the list goes on. So many songs id consider top tier GJ songs.

 

man i was looking at their merch store, and while i want all of it they're way more of a clothing brand than a band these days lol

 

I think Colouring Book is their masterpiece. Never really had the appreciation for W&T like others do, it's fine, I like it a decent amount, but certainly don't love it.

 

my biography will be titled 'The Sad, True Story of How One Man Spent $150 on Glassjaw Beanies'

 

"Natural Born Farmer" is a top 3 GJ song for me, but most of the rest of my top 10 are W&T.

Coloring Book was an awesome experiment and I'm glad they made it, but it doesn't hold up quite like it did initially when I revisit it now. I hope if they ever put out anything else it's more in the vein of W&T and Our Color Green.

 

"Daytona White" still leaves me untied.

 

I dunno, Coloring Book still holds up really well for me. Might be their best. I can't believe it's been almost six years ago that it was released.

 

Coloring Book is rad

 

I'm surprised Merch Direct hasn't come out with actual coloring books.

 

W&T is my personal fav cus it's my intro to em and the album I spent most time with but I won't get mad at anyone arguing Coloring Book

 

so Worship and Tribute is p cool. I'll probably listen to it with a lyric sheet pretty soon. Very diverse album, or at least much more so than I was expecting

 

Their Musink announcement made me dive back into this band for the first time in like 5 years. I forgot how great an album Worship and Tribute is.

 

Glassjaw is honestly my favorite band from here (Long Island).
I was born and raised in Long Island but always grew up how it's "Not real New York" while New Yorkers would claim the music. Maybe this is my petty response to petty nonsense but 1) I don't even like the city so who cares (I'm still paying this NY taxes tho so shush) and 2) We literally have some really great music not just out of New York but ever coming from here
From Glassjaw, Brand New, to Mariah Carey to Billy Joel to Blue Oyster Cult to Aesop Rock/EPMD/Public Enemy to This Is Hell etc. It always bugged me it never got recognized as such, mainly because I was forced to seperate NY and Long Island from by friends/family, but fuck it. My team vs. yours anyday lol

 

Also if I could throw my hat into the whole conversation about their first album.. I definitely get some people not being able to listen to it - especially considering Daryl himself is cynical of it and himself, himself.

I think perspective is key in everything. Does hindsight make things justifiable? No of course not. Daryl himself is cynical for a reason but perspective from even "in that moment" we could see Daryl was sick fearing death, got cheated on - and the album itself came out in 2000, Daryl was born in 79, that at best would've made him 20-21 when he wrote this.
I mean... I thought I knew it all when I was 20-21 but I sure didn't and I probably would think I was a bit of an asshole for some of my ignorance than.
Granted I never said half the shit that was said on that album to/about anyone I can understand that level of hurt. When I was 16 I lost my first girlfriend to a car accident, next one would lie about being abused and raped (wish I was making that up myself) for sympathy/friendship, girl after her got knocked up by a friend, girl after that slept with her best friend when we went on a "break" (hate those) cus AFTER HELPING HER kick her depression & addictions she demonized me for mine.
I would be lying if I said all my private writings/thoughts were the most..... righteous at the time. (This ending/culminating similarly to Daryl at age 21)

Does that make that right? No. But did I need to go through all that hell and in turn humbling myself to understand what I did wrong in both accepting their behavior as well as the wrong in my own? Absolutely.

Again I don't begrudge anyone on either side of the isle. I'm a fan of Extreme Metals (more so Black Metal than anything else) I can get how certain content cannot be accepted to certain listeners. Even I within that "Extreme" genres have NO LOVE for any racist bands or anything along those lines. Wouldn't even know how to glide that past my girl since we're an interracial couple if I wanted to (I don't lol). Perspective.

I said Glassjaw is a favorite band of mine. I'll be the first to say if their whole catalog was their first album I wouldn't be saying that. But I do in a way respect that growth seen, kinda makes me like em more, even if I don't agree with everything that was said their first go.

 

I wish the 2011 EPs would get pressed on vinyl. I know 'Our Color Green' was pressed as singles but I want them all on one.

 

this is true for a lot of bands, but i think following glassjaw's discography really does kind of track the maturity of a person. to some extent, i think i encountered every GJ album at some kind of appropriate time in my life, and the sort of problems on each record i've found something emotionally pertinent. (dumb, gross teenage feelings - EYEWTKAS, becoming more empathetic to those around me and thinking outside of myself - W&T etc)

i listened back to EYEWTKAS again for the first time front to back in a while too, and really didn't feel any relation to the record in any kind of lyrical or conceptual way. certain lines stick out ("i'll keep you jealously to myself") but not in any way that i feel relative to. i wish more post-hardcore bands with non-male perspectives were more popular from this time period, still a big fan of the sonic elements of these bands but i dunno, it's really a bummer how singular the experience was for frontpeople...

another thought: glassjaw's titling game was way ahead of any other band. EYEWTKAS is such a cool title

 

I personally disagree. OCG every track gets me going. The only track on the whole two ep's that is just okay is Stations IMO.

 

Haha, that might be the highlight of Coloring Book for me!

OCG is fantastic. I guess "Jesus Glue" feels like a bit of a weak link to me, but it's still decent.

 

If you think Jesus Glue is weak, then you have your head in a bag

 

Yeah I just don't get that. Jesus is so heavy I love it.

 

Gold needs to get a lot more praise

 

'black nurse' is such a fucking mean opener too lol, i think i like that the most