Glassjaw -
Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Silence
Record Label: Roadrunner Records
Release Date: May 9, 2000
if you are in your early 30's and now wear a tiny leather jacket, then there's a great chance this record is your pick as well. It was given to me by a friend whose brother was touring with them at the time. He said "My friends from back home just put out this record. Check it out." He said it as if it was half of a sandwich he wasn't going to eat, expecting no more than a cursory glance, unaware of how it would change not only how i heard music but how i made it. It's obviously hard to describe the way a riff or a melody effects you when it reaches beyond the intellectual and into the visceral because it's an experience that is cheapened when you try to apply descriptors and the more you long to associate with it, the further it moves away from the nucleus of the purpose. But this record cornered me. When I put it on in my car it was almost as if my life as a 20 year old was another instrument that automatically quantized with the existing rhythm of the songs. that my being there hearing it not only heightened the sound but deepened the meaning of what these total strangers, existing independently of me, had written who knows how much earlier. It was what I considered a "life checkpoint" because it seemed as if the lyrics described what I was looking at at that moment-had been looking at for months- not just visually but emotionally. I had never heard a vocalist do what Daryl was NOT doing. He was not making sense. He was cutting himself off before cussing, He was singing with such poignant madness that I literally could NOT STOP listening. It was like a movie I had seen hundreds of times still firmly believing that if I watched it just once more the characters will become self aware and give me the resolution I needed. but they never did and to this day they never have and I think it's their inveteracy that reinforces the importance of the record they made over 10 years ago. (Keith Buckley
- Every Time I Die /
The Damned Things)
Explosions in the Sky -
The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place
Record Label: Temporary Residence Limited
Release Date: November 4, 2003
I first heard this album when I was a junior in college. Up until this point, I listened to nothing but aggressive music my entire life: metal, hardcore, punk. Nothing else spoke to me on an emotional level until I heard
The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard, and still is. So beautiful, in fact, that it completely changed my relationship with music and opened my eyes to the fact that incredible music came in all shapes and sizes; folk, hip hop, classical, whatever. After falling in love with this album, my ears were completely open and it changed my taste forever. This album is also very dear to me because it came into my life right after I went through a pretty dark period. It was a rebirth of sorts into much happier times, and I think that's what the artwork is symbolic of - a new beginning. I've since tattooed the inner artwork on my arm and back as a constant reminder that no matter how hard life may get at times, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel if you keep a positive attitude and are determined to overcome whatever it is that is weighing you down. {Aaron Neighbor
- The Saddest Landscape)
Descendents -
Milo Goes To College
Record Label: New Alliance Records
Release Date: January 1, 1982
I was lucky enough to have grown up with an older, "in the know" sibling, and therefore had multiple potential gateway records presented to me by the time I was a teenager. It's hard, though, to really understand what exactly the fiber that binds all of these records/ideas together is until you find out for yourself. At the age of 14, I finally had that serendipitous experience that suddenly clued me in and put me on the right path. While washing dishes in an Italian restaurant in Shelburne, VT, I stumbled across a dough encrusted CD on the very bottom of a pile of long forgotten about albums. While it seemed that all the other employees' musical repertoires consisted mostly of a couple Phish records, at some point somebody worked there that was perhaps like my sister, as I vaguely recognized the style of artwork on the
Milo Goes To College disc by The Descendents. I used some 409 to clean off the CD, put it in the stereo and quickly felt connected to the music in a way I never had before. From the brattiness of "Parents" to the juvenile subversion of "Suburban Home," and the frustrated, unrequited love in "Hope," The Descendents articulated my feelings in a way I could not have and gave form to the profound disconnection I had sensed with my peers and coworkers. This record is not just a great intro to Descendents, but also into the entire punk rock genre. The subject matter continually straddles the lighthearted (though not too lighthearted; no fart sounds on this record!), the angering and the melancholy facts of life. The serious/funny duality the album presents gives it a very genuine voice and has become a useful tool for me as I gauge the personality of other records as I discover them. Musically, it's catchy as hell and therefore an easy transition from radio pop/rock, but it has just the right amount of edge to compliment the overall mood and to make you feel like you're definitely listening to something a little weird, maybe a little dangerous. I should mention, too, that watching Descendents from the stage at last year's Fun Fun Fun Fest with these very high expectations did not disappoint in the slightest. 28 years after its release, and the songs still carry the same message and energy they did back then. (Max Gregor -
Lemuria)
Beastie Boys -
Check Your Head
Record Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: April 21, 1992
Beastie Boys were my first major musical obsession - like, only thing I listened to for a couple of years obsession - when I was 13/14 years old. I was already really into music, mainly punk, but the Beastie Boys opened my mind further yet and helped bridge some gaps. "Musical freedom" springs to mind when I listen to these guys, and
Check Your Head is far more punk than those carrying that tag around the time. I loved their hardcore stuff too, which, digging a bit deeper, helped me discover bands like Reagan Youth, Minor Threat and Bad Brains. I love all of Beastie Boys' records in different ways because there's so much character behind each one. But
Check Your Head was my first discovery and was a gateway to many things for me. But the most impressive quality about it is how unique and creative it sounds to the point of never growing old. It's nostalgic, uplifting and everything I love about music. (James Mattock -
Sharks)
Green Day -
Dookie
Record Label: Reprise Records
Release Date: February 1, 1994
I can remember sitting in my parents basement watching music videos on Much Music. Nothing interested me too much: Pearl Jam was okay, Nirvana not so much, Metallica was heavy, but there was always something missing for me. Then came "Basket Case" by Green Day on the TV screen, I thought to myself, "Holy Shit, this is the coolest music I have ever heard."
Dookie is potentially the most influential record that has ever graced my ears. Musically, the songwriting is seamless. Lyrically, it provided this little dude from the suburbs (me) with something I could latch onto and really relate with. Even to this day, the lyrics ring true with my day to day. 17 years later,
Dookie is an album that I always come back to. It's one of my favorite pop punk records and maybe even the best pop punk album... ever! (I'm sure it could be debated amongst modern day pop punk fans. However, they are wrong if they disagree.) Without
Dookie, I never would have discovered bands like No Use for a Name, NOFX, Pennywise, Rancid, Bad Religion, etc. Without
Dookie, I never would have picked up a guitar, I never would have started writing my own songs, and I definitely wouldn't be in this hotel room crushing old Milwaukees while I write this while on tour with my band. So yeah...
Dookie. (Stuart Ross -
Living With Lions)
NOFX -
Punk in Drublic
Record Label: Epitaph Records
Release Date: July 19, 1994
I was 12 when
Punk in Drublic came out. I broke into a neighbor's house and stole $12 in change out of change jar to order it from the Fat Wreck Chords mail order catalogue. Mailed them the change in an envelope and got the CD a few weeks later. It wasn't the first record that I got and I had already been playing guitar for a year or two, but it had a bigger impact on the course of my life and the path that I went on with that guitar than any other record. It was the first time I learned the feeling of discovering a band that not everyone else knew about and how incredibly rewarding it was. It made me feel thankful that I found it. It made me feel thankful to be a part of something that was only for kindred spirits. Like most people that frequent AbsolutePunk could relate to, there is the record where you knew you liked music and then there was the record that you knew you like music more than most other people. I was just floored the first time I heard it. It was fast and angry and it was the musical embodiment of a middle finger, but it was catchy and musical. The best of everything and everything that I was feeling at the time and everything I still feel now. Punk has a way of balancing nihilism and activism; the sense that somehow nothing matters but, at the same time, everything is important. The fact that "Don't Call Me White" and "My Heart Is Yearning" can be heard back to back is what punk is. It says "Fuck you. I have some important shit to get off my chest. Oh, and by the way, let's have some fun. Life's too serious."
Punk in Drublic also says that you can be a punk and a musician which is another ideal that I have taken with me ever since and defines who I am today. (Anthony Raneri -
Bayside)
Green Day -
Insomniac
Record Label: Reprise Records
Release Date: October 10, 1995
Most people would say
Dookie, but for me it was
Insomniac that changed it all. I guess I was 12 or 13 when I discovered this record. At the time, I was still listening to Michael Jackson and Van Halen, whatever my parents listened to, whatever radio rock hit was playing on the top 40 station my parents listened to. This was the record I had to hide from my parents, inspired me to play guitar (I could actually play some poor man's version of "Brain Stew" when I was first learning guitar). I even somehow convinced my dad to take me to see Green Day play. We stood in the back and watched the pit go crazy. Billie Joe divided the crowd and got them to shout "Fuck" and "You" back and forth. My dad was horrified. I went out and bought
Dookie. (Ryan Slate -
Look Mexico)
Neurosis -
A Sun That Never Sets
Record Label: Relapse Records
Release Date: August 7, 2001
I had been a fan of Neurosis for a while already by the time this record came out. I had an older cousin that listened to a lot of heavy music and gave me a bunch of CDs, included were Pantera, Slayer, The Offspring, Pink Floyd and a Neurosis album,
Through Silver in Blood. That album had constant play and replay on my various CD players for many years. As time had gone by, I ventured into other realms of music: a bit of hardcore, a lot of indie and hip hop, and then I was in a record shop in Iowa City and saw the newest Neurosis record that had been out for about a month or so. I bought it and went straight to my car to listen to it as loud as I could. At this time, I was heavy into Poison the Well and anything melodic hardcore, and listening to this record I recall just staring at my car stereo thinking it was the heaviest thing I had ever, ever heard. The guitar tones, how big the drums sounded, the soundscapes and everything in between, and how angry the vocals sounded, it was all so overwhelming. Later, the album was released as a visual album on DVD, every song had a video that all flowed into each other. Since the release of
A Sun That Never Sets, it has shaped my tastes in other music, my guitar playing, what amps I buy because of how they sound and music making in general. It has been my monumental album that will always be played over and over again. (Jacob Belcher -
Drop Dead Gorgeous /
Of Legends /
Its Teeth)
Nirvana -
Nevermind
Record Label: DGC Records
Release Date: September 24, 1991
As a kid, my exposure to music was very reliant on what the radio and MTV were playing. I loved pop music. I still do. But at age 11, the radio started playing a song called "Smells Like Teen Spirit." As soon as I had a copy of Nirvana's
Nevermind in my stereo, my world began to change. That record gave me rock music. It opened the door to so many other records that would be released throughout my teenage years. It wasn't two years after
Nevermind came out that my grandmother bought me my first guitar and I started my first band. (Ryan Key -
Yellowcard)
Snoop Doggy Dogg -
Doggystyle
Record Label: Death Row Records
Release Date: November 23, 1993
When I think back to the albums that shaped who I am as a musician and ultimately what I find appealing in music as a whole, a lot comes to mind. Sure there was Zeppelin, The Minute Men, Bon Jovi (I'm serious), but one record that took my taste in music and completely turned it on its head was Snoop's first full length,
Doggystyle. I was 13 when I first heard it. Although I had always loved hip-hop, I was on a steady heavy metal diet of Ozzy and Zeppelin and then Boom... motha fuckin'
Doggystyle! Without going into too much detail, I can tell you that record has taught me more about music than any other. And it introduced me to P-Funk! What a classic! (Josh Eppard -
Terrible Things /
Weerd Science)
Creedence Clearwater Revival -
Chronicle, Vol. 1
Record Label: Fantasy Records
Release Date: January 1976
I was raised in a household where music was embraced but also chosen carefully. At an early age, it was rare that I was allowed to listen to rock and roll or anything "worldly." I grew up surrounded by spirit-driven gospel hymns, bluegrass, country, creole music or whatever I could find on the radio when my folks weren't around. I certainly was curious of what the rest of the world was listening to. At the age of 12, I found skateboarding to be the most revolutionary discovery of my life at the time, which subsequently directed me to punk rock, metal, rock and roll and of course rebellion. The list of bands that drove and inspired me or even scared me is long, but there's one record that seemed to always bridge the gap between what I was raised on and what I related to. The Richard family in Lafayette, LA had kids that my brother, Paul, and I always skated with. Some of my greatest memories then were when we killed our bodies on the launch ramp in front of the house, while Mr. Richard built our ramps. He was kind enough to let us help and learn how to build them and let us play the music we wanted - that is, until he was over it and was ready for his. That was the first time I ever heard Creedence Clearwater Revival's
Chronicle, Vol. 1. Even though it was a far stretch from what we put on, somehow it all made sense. It held an energy that I won't soon forget. We all skated, built, BBQ'ed and rocked to that record, and it became a staple. I grew to love that record and listened to it more than most. It was one of those and still is a piece that I could easily play in about any mood or time of year. To me, it truly is and will always be some of the "greatest hits." (Chuck Ragan -
Hot Water Music)
NOFX -
Punk in Drublic
Record Label: Epitaph Records
Release Date: July 19, 1994
When I was 11 years old, I heard a loud, low hum emanating from under my older sister's bedroom door. Instantly I was intrigued, and when she was out I'd sneak into her room and listen to her stereo. The band was not NOFX. In fact, it was Metallica. I was changed. I instantly loved it, and all I wanted to do was listen to metal. It got heavier and heavier, from Pantera to Slayer to Cannibal Corpse. I picked up a guitar and learned every Metallica song, I bought the box sets, I even went to the shows. I was a pre-teen metalhead. But when I was 14, my friend brought over a CD with a bright orange cover. It didn't look like my other CDs, with black covers and skulls or snakes, and it didn't sound like it either. From the first song, the guitar frantically playing a high E chord, and the drums even more frantic, I loved it. I looked at my friend and couldn't believe what I had been missing. I thought punk rock was The Ramones or Green Day, who I liked and thought were pretty good, but this was way more aggressive. It had the speed of metal as well as the aggression, but it didn't have to be ominous and serious all the time. It could be in a major key, and it could even be funny. My mom, who grew up on Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, thought this "punk thing" was a trend. In fact, I even thought she might be right. But the more punk bands I heard, the more and more immersed in it I got. I saved up all the money I could to order records from Fat Wreck Chords, Hopeless, and Epitaph. I went to my first Warped Tour in 1997. I couldn't believe there were so many people just like me that loved punk rock like I did. When I was only 16, I went with my friend across the border from Canada to Cleveland, Ohio to see NOFX for the first time. After that, I knew I was a punk rock kid for life and my days of metal were over.
Punk In Drublic is the whole reason I got into underground music. It's still one of those perfect records from start to finish, and it never sounds dated at all, even though it's now almost 17 years old. Every time I listen to the record, even today, I still take something new from it. (Shane Told -
Silverstein)
Saves the Day -
Through Being Cool
Record Label: Equal Vision Records
Release Date: November 2, 1999
Looking back at the last ten years of my life in retrospect, there have been at least five records that have significantly influenced my musical tastes for a number of reasons. At the top of the list is
Through Being Cool by Saves the Day. I was first introduced to Saves the Day at the age of twelve by my oldest friend and his sister, who played drums for an early Blink-182-style pop-punk band that practiced in their parents' garage. My first listen got me hooked.
Through Being Cool was my first introduction to punk music, the iconic "fast-beat," and would help me discover bands like MxPx, Blink-182, Lifetime and the classic
Punk-O-Rama compilations released by Epitaph Records. Those comps introduced me to Epitaph's vast catalog of diverse punk bands, many of which I still often listen to. Without
Through Being Cool, I suspect my life would have turned out very differently. (Nate Derby -
Such Gold)
Bruce Springsteen -
Born To Run
Record Label: Columbia
Release Date: August 25th, 1975
From what I remember, I was 3 years old the first time I saw Bruce Springsteen live. Fully equipped with my plastic silver guitar, I ran up and down the aisles of Detroit's Pine Knob belting every word at the top of my lungs. Fast forward to 18 year's later and I've upgraded from the aisles to the stages, but my endless love for Springsteen has stayed ever the same.
I was born in a house where the only religion was Springsteen, and "Born To Run" was the bible. I'm pretty sure my Dad, the biggest Boss fan I know, had "Backstreets" spinning on a record player next to my crib as an infant. As i grew up and became a musician myself, my appreciation for the album naturally increased. There's a certain magic behind the 8 tracks that I've never heard anywhere else. From the opening "screen door slam" of "Thunder Road", to Bruce's final outcry at the end of "Jungleland", this album moves me in a way I've never been moved.
As a young musician and songwriter today, what I've taken in the most from Born to Run is Bruce's mastercraft of storytelling. His ability to capture you in prolific poetry seems effortless. I love the way he describes the beginning of each song as an "invitation". The piano/harmonica cadence at the beginning of "Thunder Road", to the anthemic opening chords of 'Born To Run", and the piano and string ensemble that gracefully enters "Jungleland", do exactly that; invite you in. From that moment on you are engulfed in Bruce Springsteen's world of cinematic majesty. Stories of Mary, dancing across her front porch to the sounds of Roy Orbison, (Thunder Road), horn driven tales of Bad Scooter (Springsteen) forming the E-Street band and meeting "The Big Man" (10th Avenue Freeze Out, love letters to Wendy about escaping Asbury Park (Born To Run), a film noir of a down-on-his-luck criminal desperate to find his friend Eddie (Meeting Across the River), and over the bridge into the New York City set 10-minute epic finale (Jungleland). The Boss opens the door, and there is no turning back.
In retrospect, my Dad over-saturating my childhood with Springsteen's word was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. No album has shaped me as a musician, songwriter, or let alone a person the way "Born To Run" has. I would widely regard it as his "Magnum Opus". If you haven't gotten into it I suggest you give it a few spins (in chronological order, take my word for it). Nearly 36 years later, it still stands the test of time.
"I always wanted my music to influence the life you were living emotionally-with your family, your lover, your life, and, at a certain point, with your children." -Bruce Springsteen (Brian Logan Dales -
The Summer Set)
Pedro The Lion -
Control
Record Label: Jade Tree
Release Date: April 12, 2002
Throughout my life there have been a handful musical relationships that truly shattered my expectations and understanding of music - while altogether altering my tastes and preferences for good. These relationships were permanent game-changers so to speak, not like that girl you fell madly, passionately and profoundly in love with for a single weekend in Paulo Alto! We're talking down-on-bended-knee, refined-piece-of-coal in hand, marriage material type of girls.
Hot and steamy musical first dates are of course very exciting, but quite often only for a very brief period of time. Any chance for a lasting partnership is likely to be left in the fogged up back seat of your parent's mini-van, along with all that temporary pleasure, all those easily divulged secrets and a fleeting sense of dignity. While reflecting back on transactions of this nature, an adverse reaction is usually first to arise. Introduce burning battery acid to the top of my throat.
I suppose what I'm getting at is, when all there is to gain, to feel, to experience is easily offered up on the surface level of a thing, my attention is hard to keep. When very little work is required to discover the substance of an interaction and all of our expectations our met and delivered to us on a silver spoon; we as humans have a natural propensity to disengage from said "thing". No sooner have we completed sucking any significance from our subject, than we are on the hunt for our next victim. Records like this market themselves as soul mates and end up regrettable one night stands.
On the contrary, there have been a few albums that have left a lasting impact on my life and my overall view of music. Since engaging with said albums, all new music I experience now shoulders the weight of being scrutinized against the standards and groundwork these albums have set in place. As opposed to their counterparts, records like this conjure up favorable memories and act as the cornerstones to my musical likes and dislikes.
"Life in General" by MxPx is my first recollection of being head over heals for a record. For the majority of middle school, most of my skater friends were listening to The Offspring and Green Day, serenading their bedroom mirrors in fake English accents. Meanwhile, I contemplated what Candy Rain would look and taste like, amidst performing mediocre renditions of radio hits from Boyz II Men and Soul 4 Real. I remember daydreaming of auditioning for these groups and eventually becoming their newest member - as if there were any tonal gaps that needed filling. My friends, finally disturbed enough, banded together and bought me Green Day's "Dookie", "White Trash, Two Heebs and a Bean" by NOFX, and the aforementioned "Life in General" for my 12th birthday. "Chick Magnet", the album's most well known track, soon became my middle school anthem and provoked the purchase my first bass and bass amp.
Turning points rarely announce themselves in the moment but in hindsight this certainly was one. I spiraled into an unquenchable desire for this "new" style of music. Pennywise, Murphy's Law, Minor Threat, Operation Ivy, The Circle Jerks, The Suicide Machines, Lagwagon, Slick Shoes, Sick of it All, Civ, and Face to Face were just a few of the albums that soon replaced my catalog of R&B cassettes. All the while, MxPx's "Life in General" never lost that special place in my heart. I traded in my soulful vocal runs and all the Philly steaks I could eat for a pair of Chuck Taylor's and dreams of one day moving to Bremerton, WA.
A few years of covering punk rock songs in horrible punk rock bands went by and most of this time I carried a profound certainty that I would never stop loving MxPx the way I did. Then Saves the Day's "Through Being Cool" happened to me. I say "happened" because falling in love with this album was never the intention. To be honest, I acquired "Through Being Cool" via five finger discount and I snagged it only because I couldn't believe how young the band members on the front cover appeared to be. I just had to hear this record! However, having never heard of Saves the Day, I wasn't about to pay for it. Oh how I miss the misdirected virility of youth.
At first I hated Saves the Day. I didn't get it and I was jealous that this whiny version of Lifetime got to be in record stores, while I was still trying to figure out Rancid bass lines in my parent's garage. But slowly and unintentionally, I found myself wanting to give them "one my try"...and then another and another. Initially my return to this record was due largely in part to the intrigue of such a young looking/sounding band and then the lyrics got to me and finally the overall compositions started to make their mark. It took some time to grow accustomed to Chris Conley's style for writing, which required little to no rhyming and Saves the Day's use of minor keys was a completely foreign sound and concept to my ear. That said, each new listen was a claw deeper into me. Faster than you can say "Holly Hox Forget Me Nots" five times fast, I had found a new end all and be all to music. MxPx soon stood to the side as an abandoned lover and envious onlooker, as the remaining years of high school would be spent making out behind the bleachers youthfully and madly in love with Saves the Day.
Little did I know that college would soon come and change all of my thoughts and concepts of music. Freshman year, Radiohead's "Kid A" grew my mind and my tolerance for experimentation. She was the academic upperclassman that let loose on the weekends- teaching me the ropes.
Then there was Death Cab for Cutie's "Transatlanticism". This record was inexplicably able to capture all of the movements my body made and all of the thoughts that ran through my mind as I listened to it. She would then attach these recorded actions as permanent memories to a sonic landscape. "Transatlanticism" is and was my memory glue. My thought Velcro. The soundtrack to my 19th year of life. She, I will never forget - my memories of her are still so vivid and to this day, every time I hear her voice I am suddenly no longer here, but there.
I imagine "Transatlanticism" moving out of my cramped, back-bay apartment in late 2004 but just as noteworthy, I imagine myself not stopping her. We both knew Boston was too small for her but mutually sensed this wasn't the last time we'd be together. In a strange way I must have felt as though letting her go meant the memories that clung to her would leave as well. There was a time of silence and the memories remained.
The rebound relationships that followed "Transatlanticism's" departure stood in stark contrast to the incumbent. She was beautiful, with a straight and narrow history. The new girls, Cave In's "Jupiter" and Refused's "The Shape of Punk to Come" had checkered pasts. They both shared a similar neurotic quality about them, that for some reason drew me closer. Not to mention, after such an emotionally intensive relationship and break-up, these "wild flings" turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.
Cave In's "Jupiter" was a local girl who had recently redefined her image from an angst-ridden crazy broad, to a forward-thinking woman. "Jupiter" was able and willing to show me things I had never even considered possible before. She was my cougar. However, "Jupiter" came with some serious baggage. A good amount of my friends had previously dated her and a worn-in reputation for being a bit of a psycho was well distributed amongst my inner social circle.
Thankfully, I snagged "Jupiter" in the prime of her life and her transformation appeared to be genuine (at least until her 2005 mid-life crisis entitled, "Perfect Pitch Black"). "Jupiter" taught me how things should sound, how songs should be constructed and recorded. "Jupiter" developed my palette for guitar, bass and drum tones. She taught me how delay, reverb, bass synth and pitch-shifting pedals could be used and should be used. To her I owe a lot of my musical sensibilities and am still thankful for the lessons I learned in my time I spent with her.
Around this same time "The Shape of Punk to Come" by Refused was slowing working her way into my life. She was a foreign exchange student from Sweden, whom most of the other girls that were vying for my attention looked up to. Everything she did was just so cool. So innovative. She was wild but systematic in her chaos. She was fun but undeniably stood for something true and commendable. Most importantly, "The Shape of Punk to Come" challenged me and each and every assumption I brought into our relationship. This girl chewed me up and spat me out, but in doing so made me much more suited to enjoy my next relationship and molded me into the musical partner I am today.
At first I ignored her. There was nothing particularly eye catching about the way she moved or dressed or sounded. As a matter of fact, I had heard her name for years but never paid much attention to anything she did or said. However, unaware as I may have been, somewhere inside me a change was taking place. All of my previous musical romances were preparing me for this one girl...
Pedro the Lion's "Control" is without question my musical soul mate. She was like no other girl I had ever courted, although it took quite some time for me to understand her allure and a fair amount of serendipity to intersect our life's at the moments they did. "Control" was the plain dressed girl that never considered wearing makeup and put no effort into stealing my attention with outward acts of "prettying" herself up. At times I wondered, "Wouldn't you love to be on the cover of a magazine? Healthy skin, perfect teeth. Designed to hide what lies beneath." but she never had to. There was nothing to hide.
"Control" floated high and isolated above her predecessors, natural in her confidence and her beauty- thankfully, patient enough to wait for me to come to this realization as well. As time wore on and I matured, different elements of her composition began to endear themselves to me. She always spoke with an honesty I envied. She never struggled with addressing the hard to ask questions and topics that I so often scurried away from, saying things like, "I could never divorce you but it's good to have options" or "Ultra-violet rays are washing over all the boys and girls - As their moms lay tanning by the pool - Oh, look, their dad's arriving home - And all the children hug his neck unaware of their inheritance - All of the experts say you ought to start them young -That way they'll naturally love the taste of corporate cum." This album challenged me conceptually, mentally and spiritually, all the while making me work harder than any other to understand the meaning of musical love.
However, "Control's" confidence is still the most influential element in my infatuation. She never tried too hard or bothered herself with auto-tune; the fake nails and fancy hair of our musical generation, slick and fancy production tricks; the makeup used to cover up a song's natural blemishes, or overdubbing more tracks than she could naturally produce; the musical equivalent of a push-up bra. Within her musical simplicity, a lyrical and melodic complexity thrives and so does my affinity for this album.
Now, six years removed from our first date, "Control" has never done me wrong. She has never wavered from what she stood for and the continued challenge to truly comprehend her essence has allowed me to realize true musical euphoria and joy.
In conclusion, as a prepubescent middle-schooler, the output of a musical relationship was quantified less on true meaning and more on how it made me feel about how I felt, about other's feelings about me. The music I loved at an early age was my image. It was my attempt at directing an outward perception inward and about feeling confident in the results I was achieving. To skinny it down, I listened to music that made me feel better about myself. To this day, this is still the case, just with a different set of means to arrive at the same end result. This is the end goal of most things we do in life anyways, isn't it? To feel better.
I suppose as I got older, there were just different elements within a musical relationship that began to take precedence. I became less preoccupied with what my favorite music said about me and more focused on how it truly made me feel, outside of any external variables or influence. Just me and my music.
A common trait that all of these "favorite" records I've found throughout my life, is all of them were difficult for me to like at first, nevermind love! They each took some time and some work. In some ways, I guess my primal instinct and joy for hunting down my prey was rewarded in these musical endeavors. All of the other records, I at one point or another thought I loved, ended up like humans playing dead for a bear and no one wants to partake in anything that easy. There's just so little satisfaction to be extracted from such an easy kill. Furthermore, what has set "Control" apart from even this upper echelon of musical relationships and positioned it as my all time favorite album, is a set of external circumstances that have further distinguished "Control's" contrast at an exponentially faster rate than the rest.
As production gets shinier, as perfection becomes the norm and the natural imperfections of music get sifted out more and more everyday, Pedro the Lion's "Control"stands farther and farther apart from the mass-produced, run of the mill garbage the music industry crams down our throats. In other words, she gets more and more human everyday and as I mature I am finding it harder to love anything or anyone who is not. (Brendan Brown -
The Receiving End of Sirens)
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