May 20, 2001

Emo-core rides again, cowboys!

May 20, 2001

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The Paperless One hasn't been this excited about a band since he first heard Metallica in the mid-eighties. Okay, so the Paperless One has been excited about many bands since then, but not very many as of late.

Could it be that he's getting old? Far from it - it's just that so many bands are good at only one thing these days, and that is SUCKING ASS. Could the Paperless One be bitter that ACID TOAD SECRETION were ahead of their time and never did get the recognition they deserved?

Papa Roach, yesterday! Maybe. However, the Paperless One has been moved by not one but three bands in the past year, after yet another year of old standbys like THE CATHERINE WHEEL, MANIC STREET PREACHERS, and other artists with sizable back catalogues.

First there was PAPA ROACH. Sure, all the kids love PAPA ROACH, but there is an energy with this band that has been lacking in today's LIMP BIZKIT/NIN assembled music of the day. PAPA ROACH do the HELMET thing and come across as having more of a reason for being intense than Page Hamilton (who lost a few brownie points when the Paperless One saw him have a hissy fit onstage in Toronto and walk out on an arena crowd for a whole 15 minutes during an opening slot for MINISTRY).

Secondly, there was AT THE DRIVE-IN. These guys from Texas incorporate everything that is great about all of the BEASTIE BOYS' heavy shit and mix it up with everything that is eclectic about SIX FINGER SATELLITE. Since it was the B-Boys that signed the band to their GRAND ROYAL label, they must have thought so as well!

Last, but far from least, is THURSDAY, a band that I stumbled across on the recommendation of CMJ. THURSDAY hail from the metropolis of New Brunswick, New Jersey (home of the band LIFETIME, and probably not much else). Sure, they nicked the font for their name from THERAPY?, but their new album blew me away on my first listen. The Paperless One has always been easily impressed by those who blend the harmony of a guy who can sing with the screaming energetic guy who is too focused on rocking out on the guitar to do much other than scream (because he was that guy in every backup vocal situation that he was ever in!!!). More profoundly, the Paperless One realized that emo-core did not die a slow death when Dag Nasty signed with Epitaph and started putting out albums like "Four On The Floor".

Sure, the Paperless One once scoffed at terms like emo-core, and determined that Emo Phillips was in no way involved with any sort of hardcore outfit. However, as the Paperless One's ears turned sour to the grindcore scene of the early 90's, he realized that these guys who were singing and playing their hearts out without sounding like Muppets may have been on to something.

It turns out that there is life after BIG DRILL CAR, and it is THURSDAY.

Thursday's latest, FULL COLLAPSE, is available on Victory Records.