Mixtapemotions

  • “This Conversation Is Over” by Acceptance, Tuesday, May 4, 2021

     

    In February I talked about my history with this album, how I first heard the song “Permanent” on RadioU then I heard “This Conversation Is Over” sung in Simlish in The Sims 2: University. I bought this album in hopes of hearing the English version of “This Conversation,” and did this album deliver. Last year, “This Conversation” was a go-to song for the hard days of dealing with supervisors who hadn’t a clue about teaching during a pandemic, but took it upon themselves to distribute more work to justify our teaching positions. In 2021, the worst of it may be over, but the occasional skirmish where manipulation and a power trip leave me speechless for a bit, making me choose my next words carefully. At which time, I usually say, “I’m not agreeing to that. Thank you for calling. Goodbye,” and hang up the inter-office phone. I have to fight back the innumerable words that could get me fired. It’s best to end to conversation, reflect, and try again after the ambush.

    I’LL GRANT YOU ONE WISH THAT WON’T COME TRUE. Rather than talking about my crappy day and my enraging conversation, I’d rather talk about The Sims. I grew up only playing educational computer games. And for the most part, most of my childhood television was PBS until we finally got cable when we moved to North Carolina when I was eleven. There were a couple of games that I was allowed to play that weren’t educational. We had a game on our Sony called Chip’s Challenge, a game with hundreds of very difficult levels. We had a game called 3-D Movie Maker which you could make a 3-D movie with preset scenes and actors. Then there was the Maxis Sim Library. I started playing Sim City 2000 after we moved to NC and some of the other discount bin Sim games, but some of my friends had The Sims, a game that was not focused on building (and destroying) a city, but rather micromanaging an avatar’s life. But more fun than that was building and decorating your dream mansion. Then The Sims 2 came out with better colors and in 3-D. However, I started playing the game less and less and focused on practicing guitar. Building and curating a life on the computer started to seem like a waste of time.

    I NEVER GOT A SINGLE THING THAT I WANTED. Even though I quit playing The Sims 2 before getting proficient at the gameplay, I am still fascinated with the virtual dollhouse you can create on your computer screen. I thought about how you could film your characters in the game and that gave me the idea to revisit the game to create a web drama with an original story using the game’s animation similar to what Red Vs. Blue did with Halo. But what really fascinates me is Simlish, the made-up language recorded by voice actors based purely on their emotions. The creators of the game chose to use a made-up language to make the characters both indecipherable yet completely relatable as you see the situations unfold with your beloved avatars. The Sims 2 took Simlish even further as real bands and artists recorded Simlish versions of their songs. In different expansion packs of the game you could hear Rise Against’s “Savior” and Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night.” Playing The Sims reminds you that at its core, language is just emotion. Sure, you may not understand the nuisance, but if you listen to “This Conversation Is Over” in Simlish, you may come to realize that the song is about a breakup just through the context of the music. And while it’s important to eventually arrive at the right words, sometimes the basic message of “No, I don’t agree to that. Thank you for calling. This conversation is over,” is needed to buy you some time.

    Popular Songs in Simlish:

    How Simlish was created:

    “This Conversation Is Over” (Simlish):

    Original, album version: 

  • "Dance or Die" (The Secret Handshake Han Valen Remix) by Family Force 5, Monday, May 3, 2021

    In 2006, Family Force 5 debuted with their brand of ‘crunk,’ rap-rock punk that was comical, dancey, awkward, and overall unique. You’d be hard-pressed to find much Christian Rock on Business Up Front/Party in the Back. Most of the songs are about dancing in the club and falling in love. While pretty innocent, it was one of the first times a Christian Rock band invited its listeners to the club. Known for their outrageous live shows and touring with the likes of Cobra Starship, 30h!3, Cash Cash, Breathe Carolina, and The Secret Handshake, the band took a stylistic left turn when they released their sophomore record on Tooth & Nail Records in 2008. Dance or Die has much less crunk, more singing, and fewer joke songs. The band started taking themselves seriously on this record, but looking back, I wonder who it was for?


    THEY TRY TO TAKE OUR LIVES, BUT WE WILL SURVIVE. Family Force 5 is a rock band, but in their live shows they functioned as a boyband. In 2006-2010, boy band music was pretty scarce from the American music scene. There was the Jonas Brothers, but they were more like Hanson than Backstreet Boys. Meanwhile in the UK, there was Westlife, and South Korea never stopped generating boy (and girl) bands. The sounds of Westlife and South Korean bands evolved beyond the late ’90s teen pop sound. The boyband evolution in the UK and South Korea, though, probably didn’t have much influence on the  five “Kountry Gentlemen” from Atlanta, GA. The band members of FF5 had stage names and personas, nerdy music videos, and hip hop influences. However, the hip-hop would be temporarily dropped for their ’80s dance pop follow up, Dance or Die. Functioning as a boy band on their second record, Dance or Die was a somewhat more serious album. Songs like “Dance or Die,” “Rip it Up” and “How in the World” offered little comedy [with the exception of “Rip it Up” (The Pragmatic Remix) from Dance or Die with a Vengeance] and songs like “Get Your Back Off the Wall,” “Party Foul,” “D-I-E 4 Y-O-U” and “Fever” only containing exaggerated lyrics. 

    TRANSMISSION RADIO, RESPOND IF YOU’RE ALIVE. Ultimately, Dance or Die, a straight-up dance record, would not be the direction the band would keep. The band’s III album returned to the silliness of their debut, but lost a lot of fans with the lyrics. Then lead singer Solomon “Soul Glow Activatur” Olds left the band and the band just before the band’s leaving Tooth & Nail. The band’s fourth album, 2014’s Time Stands Still,  flirted more with EDM. Eventually, all but two of the original members were left, causing the now duo to change their name officially to FF5, their long-used acronym. So who is Dance or Die for? It’s certainly not sexy music. The mullet wearing Family boys aren’t winding up on any middle school girl’s bedroom wall. The voices of Olds and company are more serious, but still sound pretty jokey. And yet, the amount of collaborators who came together for Dance or Die with a Vengeance is impressive. There are remixes by 30h!3, Cobra Starship, David Crowder, Jasen Rauch (Red/Breaking Benjamin), and guest appearances by Matt Theissen and The Secret Handshake. Who is this album for? Your girlfriend will probably hate it. It’s guilty pleasure bro rock, and it’s getting more and more obscure with age. Still, it’s kind of fun to listen to awkward dance music sometimes. Just as long as it doesn’t remind you of a sixth grade dance.

    Official Music Video:

    Remix:


     

  • “Don’t Blink” by Relient K, Sunday, May 2, 2021

     

    How is it May 2nd and this is the first time that Relient K has entered this playlist? I think Relient K is one of the most interesting bands in Christian Rock for several reasons. First, they’ve been around forever. Starting with their hit “My Girlfriend,” which played the morality police on a girlfriend who became consumed by Satan via the music of Marylin Manson to the youth group anthem “Sadie Hawkins Dance,” the band was a soundtrack to the I Kissed Dating Goodbye chastity and sexism of growing up Christian in the early ’00s. Then there was the band’s second act: toning down the tongue-in-cheek lyrics and heading to Top 40 radio, joining the likes of Switchfoot, Stacie Orrico, and other Christian acts being in, but certainly not of the scene. But just like Anberlin as we talked about yesterday, Relient K lost favor in the charts, and to a lesser extent, with the Christian scene, with the release of Forget and Not Slow Down, a record swelling with rumors of the lead singer’s unfaithfulness to his fiance, radio host Shannon Murphy. FANSD was the most serious Relient K album, and ultimately changed the band, and they were never able to go back to the glory days of youth group pop-punk days that started their career. 

    I PLAN TO TAKE THE RIGHTEOUS PATH. Lead singer Matt Thiessen has neither confirmed nor denied the story his ex-fiancé told on her radio show. However, the details that she gave were eerily similar to the details in the lyrics of the album. What did happen was we got a much more secular Relient K following FANSD. Whether it was writing credit on his ex-girlfriend Katy Perry‘s Teenage Dream rerelease to Relient K releasing the follow-up to FANSD as a series of covers to the questionable lyrics on Collapsible Lung, Relient K was hoping to continue their career in the spotlight. But the critics and listeners HATED Collapsible Lung. The album was musically incoherent, sounding like the album was a compilation of songs written throughout the band’s career. Lyrically there was just enough spirituality to seem condescending to non-believers and phony or tacked on to the Christian market. Song talked about casual relationships, which was alienating too much of their core fanbase.  

    DON’T BLINK OR IT’S GONE. “Don’t Blink” is by far the best song on the album. It was released as a single, so many fans thought that the band was returning to their FANSD sound. However, “Don’t Blink” would have done better as a b-side to the band’s previous original full-length. However, “Don’t Blink” deals with a theme that Matt Thiessen explores in their much better follow-up Air for Free–aging. Happiness seems to be located somewhere in the past. Is this a lament for a lost love, maybe Shannon Murphy or Katie Perry? Is it a longing for the success of their previous work? Is it realizing that you are no longer the punk rock kid singing songs about wishing that girls would just wear mood rings so they would show their emotions? The early 2000s had passed in a blink, and the band was now a completely different group of dudes recording in Nashville, TN on a major label. But it wouldn’t last. The nerdy-cool Weezer-listening older brother image of Relient K had become no longer relevant to the 2010s. And that’s the fear and the loathing that makes you think about how quickly life passes, in a blink.

  • “Other Side” by Anberlin, Saturday, May 1, 2021

     

    In early 2012 when Anberlin announced that they would be returning with an album produced by Aaron Sprinkle, longtime fans knew that they were in for a good album. While their prior major label releases had stretched the band and had proven how versatile their sound was, the band had not produced an album that matched the lyrical and musical depth of their fan favorite, Cities. 2012’s Vital took Anberlin to both familiar territory and reinvented their sound. Vital is a heavier album than their previous two. But, up to this point, the band did very little with electronic music. Vital, however, opened to the electro-heavy “Self-Starter,” complete with an autotune chorus, somewhat reminiscent of Avenged Sevenfold‘s “Lost.” In fact, many of the the tracks incorporated electronic elements. The band admits to consuming a lot of M83 at that time. Perhaps the best example of the band’s marriage to electronics while keeping full guitars engaged is “Other Side,” a metaphysical song, wondering about the deeper understanding that will come on the other side of life.

    I CAN FINALLY FORGET A PAST YOU SAY YOU NEVER KNEW. Critics and fans both loved Vital. However, the album failed to grab new fans because the record label, Universal Republic, had decided to stop promoting rock music. The lead single “Someone Anyone” failed to crack the Alternative charts, the first time that Anberlin’s lead single from a record since they had signed to a label had done that. The band had truly put their hearts and souls into the record. Vital was supposed to be a celebration of youth and energy. The band’s new electronic sound aimed to be marketable in a changing music environment. But just as the band had felt they had hit the glass ceiling at Tooth & Nail, they found that the big tours with The Smashing Pumpkins, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and Linkin Park were behind them. And while Vital may have been one of their best albums, “Feel Good Drag” would be the band’s one hit wonder as far as radio was concerned. 

    THERE’S A TIME AND PLACE/ AN UNKNOWN REGION OF SPACE. Vital was released in my second month living in Korea. While I loved the musicality on the record, I realized that, like its predecessor, Vital‘s lyrics were a little weak at times. “Other Side” works lyrically because the music is so strong. Like Adele’s “Hello,” yesterday, “Other Side” reminds me about the complications of living on the other side of the world. I reminds of me of the time and distance between the two groups of people I love.  In 2012, it gave me comfort that what I was doing was meaningful. In 2021 it just makes me want to spend as much time (virtually or in person) with the ones I love. 

  • “Hello” by Adele, Friday, April 30, 2021

     

    Today’s song needs very little introduction. Most of the time I pick pretty obscure music for my playlists, sometimes even having to add the lyrics or even create the artist’s Genius page. However, 2015’s “Hello” is a song that everyone’s mom and grand-mother knows. Furthermore, Adele is pretty much one of the least controversial figures in pop music, as shown masterfully in an SNL sketch.  “Hello” is definitely meme-worthy. Six years after its release, the emotion of the song has long since felt cliche; however, some days a cliche is really the best thing to describe your feelings.


    IT’S NO SECRET THAT THE BOTH OF US ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME. Today, I woke up to the news that my dad had had a mini-stroke and was in the hospital. After a trip to the emergency room, he was discharged and given some instructions to come back to see a specialist and to make some lifestyle changes. This is all happening on the other side of the world, and with the pandemic–air travel being astronomically more expensive and difficult–I feel so helpless. Today’s fright got me thinking about time, more specifically how time changes the ones we love. How it puts a wedge between us. I think about how I came to Korea as what I thought would be no more than a three-year thing. After a very lousy student teaching experience, I wanted to prove to myself that I could teach and that teaching was the calling God had for my life. However, somewhere toward the end of year two, I had started a new relationship and was learning how to be an adult. I also hadn’t made the connections to transition my teaching career stateside, and the finances of that scared me. So I stuck around in Korea. In 2015, I lost my first grandparent. I had made it to my late twenties with four sets of grandparents, but in the summer of 2015, my grandfather died, and I didn’t go to the funeral. Time and money were the excuses. Then in 2018, my mom’s father passed away. Also, I didn’t go to the funeral. 

    I MUST’VE CALLED A THOUSAND TIMES. I’ve had a sheltered life up to this point. I remember going to my great-grandmother’s funeral in 1994. It was the first plane ride I took from Syracuse to Orlando. I didn’t attend the funeral of my great-grandfather in 2004, but I did attend his 100th birthday a few months before. There have been some sad deaths of friends’ parents and church members, but in my immediate circle, I’ve been sheltered. I don’t say that to brag or to tempt fate. On the contrary, I say this with utmost humility. I say it with fear and trembling that when it does come, I will be unable to deal with it because I’ve had so little to build my immunity toward it. And then I think about the time difference between me and the ones that I love. I think of all the friends I’ve let go of over the years. I think about how I’ve constructed a life that’s true to myself half a day in the future from my family and friends. How connected my family is in Upstate New York and how connected my sisters are to my parents. How I’m forging on in this plan with the person I love, but forsaking my family in a land that has built its culture on filial piety. Oh how much of a bad contrast Showbread is with Adele. And how dark my happy-sad playlist for April is.

  • “I Am Horrible at Processing Rejection” by Showbread ft. Whitney DePaoli & Loni Evans, Thursday, April 29, 2021

     

    In 2016 raw rock band was pronounced dead in their final studio album Showbread Is Showdead. The cause of death was detailed in the band’s Labeled episode. The music industry, overcommitment with crowdfunding, and the band’s controversial views throughout the years are all contributing factors to the bands demise. As one of the last unabashed Christian Rock acts, Showbread pressed the genre way beyond the bounds of ‘acceptable’ music for Christian kids and incorporated literary, philosophical, and industrial/metal influences that were typically shunned by the church. Showbread is responsible for starting conversations around Nihilism, anarchy, patriotism, and idolatry, and gave Christian kids a vocabulary to enter those conversations with their references to literature, philosophy, and horror movies. 


    NOBODY KNOWS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. I recently heard a podcast lambasting Skillet’s Alien Youth album. The hosts joke about how Skillet‘s John Cooper listened to Korn and Nine Inch Nails once and decided to copy their sound. To be fair, John Cooper has said on Lead Singer Syndrome that he considers Alien Youth to be one of his least favorite albums. In contrast to Skillet, Showbread’s music has pushed boundaries of the Christian market, from their dark imagery on No Sir, Nihilism Is Not Practical to their dual records Anorexia/Nervosa, which channeled NIN and Marylin Manson along with authors Bret Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk in order to tell a dark story that culminates in a redemptive theme, to their statement on Religious Nationalism in the music video for “Vehement” which was a decade before its time. Showbread Is Showdead takes a jab at pastor/Reformed Theologian John Piper. Often Showbread’s message is too radical for fans and as CD sales slowed down, this was a death blow to the strange band.

    I’M AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BOTTOMING OUT. My personal history with this band was mixed. On one hand, I was fascinated with the artistic scope that they brought to the scene, but like the John Cooper caricature of Our Pod Is An Awesome Pod (mentioned above), I always avoided the “satanic” music of Manson, Korn, and NIN. Even when I got into heavier music, Showbread’s symbol, an eighth not crossed out (pictured to the left). Seeing that symbol on so many t-shirts at Cornerstone made me fearful about the future of music and question whether or not the band took their musicianship seriously. Was the band committed to a future of musical terrorism, in which melody was traded for distortion? Furthermore, they admitted at Cornerstone 2011 that their gothic persona, makeup, and antics were part of their gimmick to press their Christian agenda. I would have felt more conflicted with that if their agenda was completely in line with what we identify as Christian today. Showbread’s music still packs a punch today, but in my 30s, hard music is only really relevant on bad days. And days like today with work meetings from ungrateful administrators lacking no vision for the future of education makes me through up my hands and say, “Let’s [just] ruin everything” then. Days like this are great for re-exploring the complexities of Anorexia/Nervosa. But we can’t hope for too many days of Showbread.

  • “Island” (Float Away) by The Starting Line, Wednesday, April 28, 2021

     

    In Western North Carolina, we had two modern rock radio stations. From upstate South Carolina there was 93.3 “ The Planet,” an Active Rock radio station that played lots of ‘90s rock and neo-90s rock. They loved grunge and post-grunge. They played Nickelback, Seether, P.O.D., Flyleaf, Puddle of Mudd, and that kind of music. Then there was Charlotte’s 106.5 “The End,” an Alternative rock station. While playing much of the same music, they also featured some newer groups, such as Silversun Pickups, Thirty Seconds to Mars, and the occasional The Almost or Saosin song. The Starting Line was one of those emerging bands that was starting to be picked up on radio. The first single, “Island,” from the band’s third and final (latest) LP, Direction, was a kind of break out for the band to mainstream alternative rock. The band had toured on their two previous albums and built up a fan base thanks to venues like the Vans Warped Tour, but some band members grew tired of touring, while others got involved with other projects.

    WAITING TOO LONG FOR A SHIP TO COME. I wasn’t fond of other Starting Line albums, but the songs on Direction had a lot going on. Whether it was the summery campfire sounding song “Something Left to Give,” the too-old-for-my-youth song “21,” or the tongue-in-cheek “Birds,” Direction was on of my favorite summer of ‘09 albums. “Island” is a great example of layers in alternative rock. Based on what lead singer/bassist Kenny Vasoli calls a “pretty-ugly chord,” the song builds with some interesting drumming and with some Calypso-sounding elements. The song talks of the urge to “sail away” with a loved one and leave their old lives behind. The music video finds the band shipwrecked on an island that seems to have suffered a hurricane. In one scene, there’s a guitar case and in another the band gear is floating out to sea. The video version differs from the album version in that the video ends on a fade out, whereas the album version ends with a more dramatic drumming and chorus.

    Tornado damage near Ringgold, GA, 
    April 27, 2011: source.

    IT SEEMS THAT THINGS ARE GETTING BETTER. This line was my mantra in college for a while. However, whenever I uttered it, it seemed the opposite happened—from credits not adding up to housing falling through. There was even the April 27, 2011–ten years ago yesterday— tornado outbreak that devastated the community the semester before my student teaching. Looking back at this song, I certainly missed the point. The message of the song is that life is hard and you rarely catch a break. Some days things start off pretty good, like waking up fully rested before your alarm and listening to a good song. The sun is shining and you realize there’s not too much pressing this day. However, quickly problems start piling up, and everything starts resolving the exact opposite way. A few fruitless missions too many and you wind up angry with the world, with the old man who’s not wearing a mask, with the department store for having a crappy selection, and you just want to be home–those are the times when you need to “keep a hold on and don’t let go.”

     

       

  • "So Sick (Ne-Yo cover)" by Max ft. Sam Tsui (produced by Kurt Hugo Schneider), Tuesday, April 27, 2021

     

    The Internet has launched many music careers, particularly over the last twenty years. Plug in the DSL and log on to the MySpace page, check MP3.com, visit the band’s Pure Volume account, see the latest video on YouTube, watch the singer get big on TikTok, and maybe get featured on a Podcast–it’s a brave new world only limited by Comcast (and certain regions of North Carolina where they refuse to lay the cable). While platforms have come and gone, YouTube has been a consistent place where singers have gotten their start. Justin Bieber, Charlie Puth, and Rebecca Black are some of the big-name acts that started out as YouTube stars. However, sometime in college, I started going down the rabbit hole of YouTube cover artists, starting with Tyler Ward. However, one cover has another in the sidebar, and you have to click on it. What does an acoustic version of “Like a G6” sound like anyway?


    SO TIRED OF TEARS. I can now say that I love many kinds of music. When I was younger, I wouldn’t admit to liking pop music. However, in college, artists like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, and Adele were really catchy. I started listening to more and more popular music and having less shame about it–especially if I was watching a Tyler Ward cover. It was okay because he was playing a guitar and making it his own. Throughout this journey of finding a daily song, I’ve included a few YouTube covers. Covers rarely replace the need for the original song, but the age of the YouTube cover artist didn’t simply fill the world with knock-0ff shysters, trying to pass others’ original songs as their own. Instead, these cover artists offer a different perspective on the songs or different production choices that are worth it to have in my music library. For example, Tyler Ward’s version of “Teenage Dream” offers a male perspective on the Katy Perry song, as if we’re watching the story from another camera angle. Today’s song “So Sick” takes the ’06 electronics out of the Ne-Yo hit and focuses on the vocals of Max and Sam Tsui. 

    I’M TURNING OFF THE RADIO. Now many of the cover artists from the early 2010s are making their own music. “So Sick” was uploaded on Kurt Hugo Schneider’s channel in 2012. I find it interesting the fandom surrounding these YouTube cover artists. Yes, Max went on to create his own music and so did Sam Tsui; however, as cover artists, they gained massive sponsorships and their fame led to TV appearances and successful tours. What starts as a love for the original song and a look at another “camera angle” turns into a relationship with the cover artist. You start listening to the covers he or she puts out even if you don’t know or particularly like the original. Then they start producing their original content. The next thing you know, you’re listening to covers and the original, but because of the constant content from the YouTuber you feel like their friend. Of course, it doesn’t hurt if he’s cute. 
    Original by Ne-Yo:

    Cover by Max ft. Sam Tsui:

  • “The Wind Blows” by The All-American Rejects, Monday, April 26, 2021

     

    When I first heard of The All-American Rejects and their single “Swing, Swing,” I thought they would just be one of the many garage bands that would continue to make cheap videos on Fuse for a few albums before quitting the music industry. I was wrong. The band’s sophomore album Move Along blew up, hitting the Top 40. The band’s major label follow-up to Move Along, When the World Comes Down, had their biggest hit “Gives You Hell,” and the other two singles “I Wanna” and today’s choice “The Wind Blows” were moderately successful, but the band’s fourth record was mostly overlooked. While the TV show appearances (Smallville Season 6) and the tours with Taking Back Sunday and Anberlin may be over, the band’s legacy tells of a time when power pop, punk rock, and pop rock impacted the Top 40.


    I’LL LEAVE WHEN THE WIND BLOWS. Originally written for Gwen Stefani, “The Wind Blows” is one of The Rejects’ most poppy songs. The production is interesting, sounding almost effervescent as Tyson Ritter‘s voice lingers somewhere between your left and right headphones. Ritter’s voice isn’t particularly strong in this song, and the guitar could overwhelm, but the guitar is airy, only strummed for emphasis during the verse. The drums carry the verse until the guitar is given more permission to challenge Ritter’s voice in the chorus. Looking back, the band clearly wanted this song to make them the next Maroon 5. The video sees Tyson Ritter acting as the cool and laidback frontman of a successful band. The band is playing in the water, somewhat reminiscent of the Augustana video for “Boston” or The Starting Line’s video for “Island” (Float Away). 

    YOU’RE SO IMPOSSIBLE THAT I SHOULD SIGN A WAIVER. Several years ago, my students told me that there is a term in Korean for people who live with the wind, 바람 사람 (Wind person), if I recall correctly. This is kind of an insult towards a person who leaves when things get serious, however, the image it strikes in my mind is a person who is unobtainable. You want to know this person more, but they are too busy for you. This could be because this person has willfully made themself scarce or it could be because you look up to this person and they don’t realize it. You may have a crush on a person who gives you a little attention. You just get a glimpse of that person. The wind touches your face and then he’s gone. You might find yourself trying to make that person stay. You ask a question, but they’re always a little too busy. It’s not best to try to grasp “wind people.” If you catch that person, he’ll probably dematerialize. Instead, let the breeze blow and guide you in your journey. Someone will stick around.

  • “Better Now” by The Juliana Theory, Sunday, April 25, 2021

     

    Like Further Seems Forever, The Juliana Theory was legendary in the early pop-punk/emo scene. Also like FSF, The Juliana Theory has ties to hardcore. Lead singer Brett Detar started as the guitarist for Christian metal pioneers Zao, however, as he explains on Theory’s episode of Labeled, the band was perfectly content listening to Third Eye Blind on the radio in the van while out on tour. When Theory formed, they signed with Tooth & Nail Records but opted not to be marketed to the Christian Rock format. This decision both helped and hurt their career. On the one hand, they toured with other Tooth & Nail artists and performed at Cornerstone, on the other hand, their initial record sales were quite low. There has been much bad blood between the band and the record label, especially when the label made money on selling their song “We’re at the Top of the World” (To the Simple Two) to Disney to be featured in a Disney channel original, Motorcrossed, and the band didn’t feel fairly compensated. The hit, however, helped the band sign to a major label, but never achieved the commercial success they were chasing. The band broke up in 2006, but in 2020 they released the single “Can’t Go Home” and a reimagined album A Dream Away in January of this year.

    IT IS GETTING BETTER NOW. Unlike Further Seems Forever, I don’t have a deep seated nostalgia for The Juliana Theory. They were a band name I heard, but wasn’t actually exposed to their music until college, after the band had broken up. While some of their music was catchy, I felt that their Tooth & Nail predecessors did a better job at what they set out to do: further the emo/pop-punk genre. However, at the beginning of this year when I heard their two new singles “Can’t Go Home” and “Better Now,” I had found two songs that feel on the level of their predecessors. I think a big factor in this new Juliana Theory is Brett Detar’s growth as a musician. After the Juliana Theory’s initial run, Detar released two country albums and composed music for films. Rejoining with guitarist Joshua Filedler, the band is now a duo, which seems to be in line with where music is going. Let’s hope for more interesting music from The Theory to come.

    HOLD ON. As the pandemic presses on, people are spending a lot more time listening to music. What was once something in the background for work and school, more and more people are listening more intently to music, even at home. Emo is making a resurgence, too. It turns out that the same band who helped you through that awful breakup in high school is also there when you got laid off or you were afraid of what’s going to happen next. “Better Now” is an inspirational song celebrating the incremental accomplishments a person who is trying to turn their life around makes. The video depicts several three situations in which individuals make a decision to improve their lives from bad situations. From an U.S. Forces veteran who regains his ability to walk, to a drug addict mother who chooses to clean up her life because it’s influencing her son, to a mother who chooses to leave an abusive marriage, the message of the video is that change is possible. As the video may be triggering, there are helplines available for various crisis. While the times now may be bleak, music can help us believe that light is around the corner. We just need to hold on a little bit longer.