Out On the Limb

After the last installment that culminated my childhood musical favorites, I became a little nostalgic when thinking about this next endeavor. High school is always one of those times in life that people say you’ll always remember… that you’ll do a lot of your growing during those four years. Well, I indeed did that, but I think it’s a different type of growth. It’s preparation for actual growth. Entry-level growth. And with that, comes music that greatly fosters emotion. Enter my emo phase.

Luckily for me, I wasn’t emo enough to get the haircut. So there are now embarrassing photos of that sort, but I did do my fair share of listening to the music. However, there was no screamo for me, just the whiney stylings of Chris Carrabba and Dashboard Confessional. What’s a better way to release one’s adolescent angst than listening to a throaty voice accompanied by acoustic strums in weird guitar tunings? Exactly. Nothing. I can remember listening to Screaming Infidelities on a mix CD in the car with my dad… he asked, “Why are you listening to a song that talks about ‘making out’?” I’m not exactly sure of my reply, but I’m pretty sure I had nothing. And I still don’t. Those first few EP’s were really just a guilty pleasure, lyrics that spoke of things I hadn’t experienced, hinting at what relationships had to offer. Pain, First Kisses, Anxiousness, Lack of Reciprocation: Lessons learned from Mr. Carrabba. Unfortunately, the advent of A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar, and the integration of a full-band and slightly edgier sound marked the demise of my Dashboard love. As his music progressed, so did I… and I will forever be left, Living in Your Letters.

Favorite Tracks: For You To Notice, Remember To Breathe, Screaming Infidelities, Hands Down (original acoustic version)

Next on the run-down would probably be a band that I spent much time with while driving with the windows down the summer of age 16. Something Corporate was not your average pop-punk band. With the addition of piano-banging melodies, SoCo delivered something slightly different than the rest of the Warped Tour-esque lineup. I can remember searching the internet for chords and charts of Andrew McMahon’s riffs and attempting to play the piano. Unfortunately for me, never being taught to play the piano, this was difficult. And to this day can still only barely remember the main riff to the epic, nine and a half minute overture, Konstantine. Sadly, SoCo didn’t remain together after their second full-length album, and as McMahon went on to solo efforts, my tastes and I aged. Even though I did acquire one of his later albums in college, I never had the same attachment to the five-some I remember seeing at Rcktwn, banging the keys with his feet.

Favorite Tracks: Konstantine, I Woke Up In a Car, Globes & Maps, Hurricane

This next guy is still pretty big today, but in my mind can never top the era of his first major release. As one of my first concerts “alone”… my parents actually let me drive up to Downtown Nashville with a friend, park, attend RiverStages without parental supervision, seeing Jason Mraz was quite the fun experience. The Mraz I came to love was a dirty-mouthed, creative lyricist that was oddly unique and gave a great show. If my memory is correct, he even brought out a rooster on-stage during his River Stages performance to compliment is “cock” theme of Waiting For My Rocket to Come. Luckily, I came to like Mraz’s music in my days dishonest downloading, and was able to procure many unreleased tracks not found on any of his studio releases. So, even though I think he did have a bit of a sophomore slump with MR. A-Z, I still had enough material to keep me content.

Favorite Tracks: Dream Life of Rand McNally; Tonight, Not Again; Common Pleasure; You and I Both

Honorable Mentions: Jimmy Eat World, Mae, Copeland, Death Cab for Cutie

As you can see, this era was jam-packed with male voices. All of these artists probably spent some time in rotation on my mp3 player of choice at the time… and by rotation, I mean that this adorable little 64 MB player could only hold about 50 songs at a time. Talk about high-tech gear, this baby was quite advanced for 2003… The iPod was only two years old and hadn’t even introduced the full-fledged clickwheel yet. But damn, it sure ate AAA’s like nobody’s business.

The next installment will show my… err… life changes? As in a complete gender opposition, featuring music from talented ladies instead of men.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.