Last year Jayme had a great idea of making a list of our favorite records of ten years ago…way back to 1998 to be exact. Eric at Can You See The Sunset and I of course followed right along. Well, we are back again and hopefully making this a yearly feature for all of us. This time we explore our favorites of 1999. So, here we go again! This list ended up being 30 albums cause I could not stop thinking of great albums to recognize…1999 was a great year. I did not list any descriptions so if you want more info on a band or an album just ask in the comments and I will be happy to wax nostalgic on some of the lesser knowns.
Posts Tagged ‘The Get Up Kids’
11.12.2009
01.10.2009
Who? Animal Names
Where are they from? Vancouver, British Columbia
What do they sound like? The Promise Ring anyone? Animal Names play quirky and poppy indie/emo rock that manages to stay the right side of cheesy at all times. Comparisons to early Weezer and Get Up Kids would do just nicely as well. Animal Names’ debut, Oh Yes You Better Do is a bit unspectacular but definitely solid and shows a ton of potential. Watch out for this band to really turn on the jets on their next release.
I recently talked with Keith Latinen of Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate). Here is the short Q&A.
Describe the band’s sound and major influences.
Keith: I guess I would describe our sound as a throw-back to the mid-90’s emo bands. The really pretty, heart-on-your sleeve gut-wrenching stuff that when you listen to it, you can tell the artist is pouring their heart out. So it’s only natural for our influences to start there- we’re talking Mineral, American Football, Appleseed Cast, Penfold, old Jimmy Eat World, Death Cab For Cutie, and The Get Up Kids.
What is the songwriting process like for Empire Empire?
Keith: The project started as a solo-project for me, so the first entire EP I did everything – all the instruments as well as the recording. At that point, I would write in blocks, so I would write every part for the first 30 seconds or so, then start the next part with guitars and build it up again. We actually recorded the full-length the same way, only Cathy played guitar as well. Nowadays though, Cathy or I will bring something to practice, or we just start jamming and molding it into whatever form it naturally takes.
What’s the band’s opinion on file-sharing?
Keith: At this point I think it would be foolish to be against something that is essentially the greatest form of advertisement. I think file-sharing has already helped us gain exposure as a band. It’s sort of a loaded question though, because we are all broke, and recording and pressing, and just being in a band is really expensive. It would be nice to be paid for every song someone downloads, but file-sharing is here, and I think it can help us more than hurt us. If it brings out someone to a show or makes us another fan, then that’s way more important than getting some change from a download.
What’s on the horizon for Empire Empire?
Keith: Right now, I am finishing the vocals up for our full-length, which we hope to put out sometime this summer. Past that, we are booking a tour for May, and hope to just keep touring and making music as long as we can.
SAL Review of EE’s Year Of The Rabbit 7″
11.04.2008
Annabel come to us from the indie metropolis of Kent, Ohio and Now That We’re Alive is the band’s ridiculously good debut effort. This really reminds me of late 90’s stuff in the vein of The Anniversary and The Get Up Kids. It’s kinda emo, kinda pop, kinda indie rock. Hell, on the brilliant “Castles In The Air” you can even point in the direction of the legendary Superchunk for comparisons. Needless to say, with all these similarities, Annabel are delivering a whole heaping of melodic goodness here. But, as good as the first three songs of Now That We’re Alive are, I got this sinking feeling that I had quickly figured the band out. Luckily, I was wrong, wrong and so wrong. Just when you start to think Annabel might be a one trick pony (and a damn fine one at that), they go and pull out the final two tracks of Now That We’re Alive. “…And Elsewhere” is a down-tempo piece filled with lush keyboards. “If The Accident Will” starts out slow but shows incredible range as the band lets the feedback rumble up from beneath them. The song gets damn near epic close to its end. For goodness sakes, I thought Annabel were just a nice indie pop band but they have shattered that notion. While Annabel might have me confused they also excite me beyond words.
Genre: Indie/Rock/Pop
RIYL: The Anniversary, The Get Up Kids, Superchunk
Label: Self-Released
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