At the Drive-In Appreciation Thread

I really like Vaya because ze songs are all slightly unusual. Well, apart from Heliotrope, but zat one is easily skippable. o:) I know all the lyrics to Metronome Arthiritis and it's my pick of all their work.

I like em just fine, I thought Vaya was their best, Relationship of Command is a solid album though, haven't listened to it for a while...that album can be credited for bringing that 'Screamo' sound to the mainstream, I guess had to happen eventually, ATDI was as good a band as any to break though that commercial ceiling

 

Edited by mithrandir - July 02 2008 at 14:35

have you ever tasted skin?

I like In/Casino/Out and that's all I have by them.

The Antique wrote: mithrandir wrote: I like em just fine, I thought was their Vaya best, Relationship of Command is a solid album though, haven't listened to it for a while...that album can be credited for bringing that 'Screamo' sound to the mainstream, I guess had to happen eventually, ATDI was as good a band as any to break though that commercial ceiling   I might have to disagree about he scremo thing. But then it might just be me. I don't see ATDI as screamo at all really. I see them as pretty much a slightly experimental post-hardcore band... Screamo to me is usually much more scream-ridden than ATDI, and heavier. At least to my perceptions. ATDI began as pretty much a Get-Up Kids knock off in my opinion, and developed into playing very fun, well-orchestrated post-hardcore with little to no metalic influences... Also, screamo is an offspring of emo, which ATDI also isn't as far as I'm concerned...their only album I'd consider remotely emo (and I'm speaking 'emo' in the 90s sense) is their debut... I just don't see screamo...but then again, I guess it's all perception. Screamo to me began from bands like I, Robot and the like, not ATDI; emo was carried by earlier Brand New and then bands like American Football and the Appleseed Cast. I dunno. I could be VERY wrong here, and if I am, please educate me, as this topic has certainly always been a bit confused to me...

Edited by mithrandir - July 02 2008 at 15:10

The Antique wrote: ^^thanks. That clears things up a bit for sure. But then, I have a question. Post-Hardcore as a lable has always been a little vague to me. I know the stylistic sounds...but what precisely distinguishes it from, as you said, screamo and emo? Never really understood that...

I guess, Post-Hardcore can be seen in a few different ways, one being bands that started out Hardcore and moved in a different direction, Black Flag, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, are all sort of Post-Hardcore,

but what's more widely known as Post-Hardcore is the Fugazi/DC sound = angular twin guitar interplay, jazzy rhythm section, liberal use of arpeggiated guitar picking, sung to shouted/screamed vocals, all done with with a slight progressive and experimental spirit,

Fugazi, isn't necessarily an Emo band, but  they laid the groundwork for a lot the musical tools Emo bands went on to make their music with, Moss Icon are somewhat the same - they didn't start their band and say "hey, were an Emo band!" although they've been retroactively assigned that tag nowadays,

the Truer/Proper-Emo bands that followed like Indian Summer for example have a very similar sound structure to Fugazi but more somber in nature and the vocals have a touch more of a "whine" to them, its almost just a small step in one direction that distinguished these styles, so many bands you can consider both Emo and Post-Hardcore, while others like Fugazi, Shudder to Think, Drive Like Jehu, etc simply rest comfortably in the Post-Hardcore camp, even Slint is considered Post-Hardcore but of course they influenced another subgenre we all know now as Post-Rock! argh! more complications!

at the same time there's also a divide in the Screamo camp, the mainstream branch - stuff like Thursday and The Used, and the chaotic purer brand that stick more to their Underground Hardcore and even Grindcore roots...stuff like Orchid, Reversal of Man, Jeromes Dream, Usurp Synapse, Pg 99,  Circle Takes the Square etc...sometimes this style is also referred to as, "Emo Violence" or Chaotic Emo, ....

I love them. I still rock Relationship of Command and Vaya now and then, but I can't get into In Casino Out anymore. Its writing is pretty primitive compared to the later releases, the perforamances aren't great, and I don't like the production at all. The only song I still really like off of it is the last track.

One Armed Scissor video helped get me in to prog indirectly because I checked out the Mars Volta based on how much I liked it and the rest is history.

^I actually just listened to it a couple of days ago when I was looking for some albums to trade. It gets less enjoyable each time. Vaya doesn't have great production, but i think first and foremost the songs are way better, and I also feel more of an atmosphere about Vaya. In Casino Out isn't bad, I just don't think the band hit their stride yet and it's just not something I'm into anymore.