NewYearsDayProject | a song a day blog

Acceptance 's story about the band that called it quits before they realized made the band a legend. In 2014, Jesusfreakhideout posted their top " One Album Wonders ," and Acceptance's Phantoms topped the list. According to lead singer Jason Vena , when he sat down with  Billy Power   on Urban Achiever Podcast  in 2015, the lead singer recounted about how he had no idea the cult status the band then had in the scene. In various other interviews, Vena talked about how other bands, namely A Loss for Words and All Time Low inspired him to consider an Acceptance reunion.  LAST SEASON OF THIS MASQUERADE. In 2005, Acceptance after their failed attempt at major label stardom, Vena took a job in Seattle outside of music. The band dissolved, some forming side projects with other musicians. Lead guitarist Christian McAlhaney talked with Josh Coats on Your PUSH Coach Podcast in 2020, talking about what made him successful in three bands and other projects. These projects

While the rock music was falling out of favor in the 2010s, All Time Low 's career continued to gain momentum. Formed in 2003 and heavily influenced by NoFx and Blink -182 the band became a force in the emo phase of the Warped Tour scene. The band became famous for their jocular onstage banter and their mock-turned serious feud with Metro Station . And in that jocular nature, the skinny, nerdy bandmates clad in only their tighty-whities appeared on MySpace's home page the week before their sophomore album So Wrong, It's Right  dropped in 2007. I DON'T MIND IF YOU FUCK UP (RUIN) MY LIFE. Fast forward thirteen years. I deleted a lot of music I acquired in college if I didn't like the songs. I enjoyed laughing at Blink- 182 videos in middle and high school just as much as any lower-middle class American white boy, but joke pop-punk got old when emo bands dug into deeper subjects. It turns out that All Time Low was digging a bit deeper in the 2010s, flying under my

Signed to Columbia/CBS Records   in 1984 under the "tacky" and "tongue-in-cheek" moniker The Baseball Boys, the London-based band quickly changed their name to The Outfield . The band's chief lyricist and guitarist John Spinks got the idea for a baseball-themed band when watched the movie The Warriors . The band's American manager convinced the band to change their name. Spinks was a fan of both American sports, particularly baseball and football because those sports were "far more business, far more spectacle, than British sports." The "American-sounding band" found their earliest success in America, not the U.K., starting with 1985's hit " Your Love ." NO SECOND CHANCE, NO GIVING UP. The Outfield has a string of hits after "Your Love" between 1985 and 1990, but their popularity faded with the rest of the New Wavers. Most of their album titles are named after baseball references, starting with their debut Play De

When  Acceptance  released  "Cold Air, " last summer, I was immediately taken by the catchy, '80s New-Wave electronica meets  The Outfield -style harmonies sung by lead singer  Jason Vena . However, the rest of the album failed to pack the punch that their 2005 debut and 2017 sophomore record had. Acceptance had become known for their lyricism, Vena's near-perfect execution in his mid-to-high range vocals, and often haunting/mysterious guitar parts--all mixed and produced by  Aaron Sprinkle . However, what  Wild, Free  offered was clipped guitars, electronics, and gruffer vocal takes by Vena. There were certainly some highlights, but other than "Cold Air," there hasn't been much to come back to--except for a song that got stuck in my head today: "Wasted Nights." I THINK WE MET AROUND THE FIRST OF MAY.  Billy Power  had an  interesting interview with Jason Vena  back in 2015, in which Vena talks about how his first marriage dissolved while he wa

Today is the third entry from Shura 's Nothing's Real album. In an interview at Austin City Limits in 2019 , Shura said that her mother said that her mother said of her first album "It gets better the more you listen to it," which Shura and the interviewer lightheartedly took as a  criticism of the singer-songwriter's 2016 album. I agree with Shura's mother, but not as a criticism of the album. It was great the summers of 2016 and 2017 when I first enjoyed Nothing's Real . But the album was more than just a song fleeting song of the summer. To me, it gets better every time I listen to it.  IF YOU LET ME DOWN, LET ME DOWN SLOW. Today, I'll provide a track-by-track reaction to each song on Shura's Nothing's Real much like what I've done with Acceptance 's Phantoms and Turn Off the Stars .    My reaction isn't meant to be extensive, and I will add to it as I choose more songs to be the song of the day. I'll provide the Spotify ver

Today we have another piano-based slow opening track. However, unlike Acceptance ’s Phantoms , promotion for Paper Route ’s debut record Absence was mostly word of mouth from the band’s existing fan base and getting on major tours with Paramore , Mutemath , and others, despite the band being on a division of a major label. The band’s established fan base, curated through touring and social media, had already been introduced to the band’s evolving sound on the Are We All Forgotten EP released on 2008 from the folk-electronic sound of their early efforts. Absence though was full electronic progressive pop. HE STOLE AS BEST HE COULD. The disorienting intro to the song " Enemy Among Us " is a reverberated piano. In the living-room-filmed album promotional performance video (see below) shows a drum set a top the electric piano as Chad Howat plays the song. I have no idea how the band recorded the song, but Absence is an album that I would like to know more technical specifics

" Take Cover " is the opening track to Acceptance 's debut and almost final album, Phantoms . It starts with a piano loop and adds momentum with the drums. Jason Vena 's smooth vocals hit a high register which puts the band on good emo footing for the time, as a singer who could whine a few lines was essential for a band that makes it. Listening to Phantoms again today--as I've talked about this album at least three times before--I thought about one of the fatal flaws of the record: the track order. Even though, I think that this album is a perfect artifact of my last two years in high school, I can kind of see why this band wasn't huge, and it has to do with track listing of this album. SHE MAKES THE CITY SEEM LIKE HOME. Today, I'm going to do a track-by-track analysis of this album, and I'll probably add to this analysis as I choose more songs to be song of the day. I may not have a lot to say about the tracks individually as I've already talked

  Today, we’ll revisit high school in a playlist The Angsty Aughts. This playlist will compile and celebrate the Emo songs I’ve blogged about. For this list, I’ve decided to focus on scene music from 2003-2009. I’m sure that a second generation of Emo featuring Olivia Rodrigo and Goody Grace will be a post in the future. For this playlist, I've decided to stick to a high school theme because that's what Emo does best, so I listed the song as "Class of" based on the year that the song was introduced. Enjoy! Listen to Angsty Aughts on AppleMusic . 1. " The Sound " by Further Seems Forever (Class of '03), the song of the day. 2. " Embers and Envelops " by Mae (Class of '03) 3. " All of Me " by Watashi Wa (Class of '03) 4. " Coffee " by Copeland  (Class of '03) 5. " Crushcrushcrush " by Paramore  (Class of '07) 6. " Sick in the Teeth " by Jonezetta (Class of '08) 7. " Spiders &quo

Labeled fans are still waiting for the Jonezetta story. Several parts have been teased in previous episodes, about how they were one of two general-market bands signed to Tooth & Nail (The Classic Crime being the other). The band's sound drastically changed between their first and second record, Cruel to Be Young . But today rather than digging into Jonezetta's story, we're going to explore the career of Cruel 's producer, Aaron Sprinkle , as Cruel to Be Young has become a cult classic and an essential piece in the legendary producer's catalogue. Using just tracks that I've written about over the year+ I've been blogging, I made a playlist celebrating Aaron Sprinkle's career. IT'S NOTHING PERSONAL . I'm going to post the Spotify playlist here and talk briefly about each track and why it is quintessential Sprinkle. This is an unofficial list. I may be missing some from my blog, and there are certainly other artists such as MxPx , Poor Old

On a cold winter's day, in the middle of the stress of house-hunting, I thought I'd make a playlist for those bad days that aren't quite depressing and not quite angry. Today's featured song is " Beth/Rest " by Bon Iver. I resisted putting this song on my Pseudo '80s Playlist  because, despite the soft-rock keys and saxophone, the vocal distortion sounds more of a product of its time than a retro track. Some of the songs on today's list will be a little sad, but something about them gives me strength rather than pushes me further into a despair. As always, I'll put the links for each song. I'm going to stick to tracks I've written about and add to this list as I feel the song is appropriate. First, I'll share my Spotify playlist: 1. "Beth/Rest" by Bon Iver is the representative song of the day.  2. "Tell Me How" by Paramore is a sad song, but the resolve at the end leaves the power in Haley Williams' hands. 3.