afi

In case you don’t have a reminder programmed, last week marked a significant, albeit painful, emo milestone. That is, we’re now 15 years out from the June 6, 2006 release of AFI’s DECEMBERUNDERGROUND. That’s a decade-and-a-half of practicing the “Miss Murder” scream as we flat iron our hair and permanently adorning overpriced shoes in haphazardly […]

AFI certainly know how to rouse suspense—just look back to the effective erasure of vocalist Davey Havok‘s existence prior to The Missing Man announcement… Still, when whispers of their 11th album began in 2019, nobody suspected that it would take two years to actualize. Of course, we didn’t suspect that a pandemic was in the cards […]

In the music world, everybody has to start somewhere. While a producer’s early albums are their proving ground for a bright future in the field, they also need luck on their side to find a successful band and a scene-changing album to springboard the rest of their career into the stratosphere. From legendary production masters […]

In music, there are few universal truths. That said, the inherent ability for a well-crafted spoken-word part to send a shiver down the spine of anyone who hears it is definitely one. Of course, that goes double when such a moment is your first introduction to a song. There’s really no wrong way to incorporate […]

There are a number of factors that might make a song immediately recognizable—a whisper, a cough, a G note… But nothing gets our little black hearts racing quite as rapidly as a guitar riff we know like the backs of our hands. You don’t even have to be a guitarist to get the sentiment. As […]

The Venn diagram comprising many punk and metal offshoots got pretty messy in the 2000s. Post-hardcore crews were regularly lumped in with metalcore, screamo, emo and a plethora of hybrid acts, often sounding comparable and touring together. The biggest of those spectacles was something called Warped Tour.  Yet, there’s no doubting their sway. These subgenres […]

“Goth-punk,” eh? Not as far-fetched as you might believe. Goth was essentially an offshoot of punk, especially its darker early bands—the Damned or Siouxsie And The Banshees, anyone? But basically, anyone playing chainsaw punk rooted in the artsier end of glam a la Bowie and Roxy Music, a fondness for Hammer horror films, macabre literature […]

What do both Schitt’s Creek and emo music have in common? Far-reaching relatability that fluctuates wildly between being hilarious and heart-wrenchingly sentimental. It’s a shame that the scene largely grew out of incorporating song and movie quotes into their ultra-long song titles. Schitt’s Creek would have given bands a treasure trove of references to draw from. That’s not […]

Next year, No Doubt’s iconic debut self-titled album officially turns 30. Naturally, whenever a historic anniversary for the band rolls around, reunion rumors begin to spread. During a new Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, Gwen Stefani weighed in on if a No Doubt reunion could happen. As well, she opened up about her new […]

Southern California gets a lot of credit for being the birthplace of many bands that you know and love such as Black Flag and Bad Religion, but Northern California’s discography, which includes both Green Day and Metallica, isn’t exactly that shabby either. The area may get a little less public affirmation, but hopefully we can […]

While some bands have miraculously played for decades without a lineup change, most have had to replace a member or two throughout their tenure. We see it all the time, though it’s not always as staggering as, say, Matt Skiba stepping into a Tom DeLonge-shaped void. Often, it marks a natural progression for people who had […]

It’s an exciting day for AFI fans. After weeks of anticipation, the band have finally confirmed when their new album Bodies is arriving. On Thursday, the band debuted two more powerful songs from the forthcoming LP called “Looking Tragic” and “Begging For Trouble.” As well, as if all of this news wasn’t enough, AFI have […]

There’s no shortage of perfect alternative songs from the 2000s. But can the same thing really be said about albums? You know what we’re talking about. It’s why we often opted to spend our $10 iTunes gift cards on assorted singles rather than full records. After all, why take up any fraction of that precious […]

In a culture driven by instant gratification, it’s important to start off on the right foot when putting out content. This of course doubles for music, especially now that streaming services put a seemingly endless number of albums at our fingertips. Fortunately for the alternative music scene, starting off strong has been a long-set precedent. […]

Discovering bonus tracks to your favorite albums was hands-down one of the best feelings ever back in the 2000s. Before the rise of streaming services, instant downloads and damn near limitless music collections, B-sides and other limited releases were like gold. If you were lucky, you’d find them on physical albums or iTunes. Otherwise, you were […]

We know how to exhaust the discographies of our favorite bands, going back to their early foundations. But how often do we follow their journeys back to where they really started? Prior to achieving career success, many now-iconic artists started somewhere else entirely. Often, we’re so removed from these preceding outfits that we don’t even […]

We may be a good decade out from the height of the scene heyday, but that doesn’t mean our favorite artists are anywhere past their prime. In fact, a good number of them have been extending their talents by forming new bands and side projects. Unless they’re getting broad recognition like Simple Creatures, however, these […]

A fundamental part of being an emo kid is not letting any aspects of music be unknown. That’s why we memorize song lyrics in their entirety and play them backward just in case. But that doesn’t mean that more subtle elements can’t sneak by us from time to time. After all, with so many hits to obsess over […]