Introduction - Daylist 🎧

I have recently been fascinated by Spotify’s rotating Daylist. It is a playlist (search for “Daylist”) that updates multiple times per day and has a title representing the mood. For anyone that knows me personally, I am a very reserved, quiet introvert. Then, I look at my Daylist titles - “rage villain thursday afternoon”, “rage electronicore sunday evening”, “angry rage morning”, “rage modern metal wednesday evening”, and then it decides to throw in a “lonely singer-songwriter thursday evening” 🤣. These screams and raw emotion are so far from anger/rage and instead are therapy which I find relaxing and somehow stabilizes the chaos of my brain.

I was trying so hard to find the right words to pushback on hardcore music being considered “rage”, then I stumbled upon a similar description of myself, articulated so much better by Norman Brannon within the Anti-Matter zine (you should subscribe here) - “Hardcore kids, including those of us who dropped out of school, can be endlessly curious people - and that makes us excellent learners. Not coincidentally, the Venn diagram between people who want to learn and people who think about teaching in some way is an almost-perfect circle”. Beautifully written! Be hardcore!

Special Moments ✨

1. Benson Boone performed “Beautiful Things” live on Jimmy Kimmel with Sage Weeber on drums. Somewhere within the daylists I mentioned, Spotify had also suggested this gem which I will assume was from the lonely evening list. It has become a song that I’ve had on repeat all week and recommend checking it out. Also, make sure to buy tickets for the upcoming tour. LINK

2. Travis (@Ankshuss) shared a personal story from attending a Manchester Orchestra show and created a puzzle from one of the concert photos. Such a cool idea and appreciate the message shared as it resonates with so many - “We all need escapes, though. Music is mine.” The Amplified Echoes tour was one of my favorite experiences of the entire year. LINK

3. Justin Courtney Pierre of Motion City Soundtrack shared a personal story about teaching elementary students the roots of various music genres. This is awesome and I would have loved to be one of those students. Thank you for investing your time, talent, and expertise into teaching the next generation! LINK

4. Paramore won two Grammy awards including Best Rock Album for “This Is Why”. Paramore is the first female-fronted band to win this category. So cool and absolutely well deserved. LINK

5. Mom Jeans performed at the AHL All Star Challenge hockey game. LINK

Reminder 🐘

1. Join Yellowcard today Feb 8th at 1:00 ET on Twitch for a livestream of their new collaboration album with Hammock called “A Hopeful Sign” before it is officially released. LINK

Merch 📦

1. Sparrow Sleeps has had a crazy busy release week with kids/baby apparel in collaboration with Emery, Sum 41, and Simple Plan. Additionally, they released “The Night’s End” (Emery lullabies) album. LINK Emery - LINK Sum 41 - LINK Simple Plan

Creators 🎨

1. Mazalthan continuing to crush it with amazing art and videos. I am yet to own one of these prints, but absolutely intend to add one of these to my office wall in the near future. LINK

Shows/Tours 🎟️

1. Death Cab for Cutie shared a sneak peak of their setlist for the upcoming Transatlanticism tour (no surprises, it is the discography of the full album in order 🤣). The key part of this for me was that it includes gray Jim Dunlop picks in the photo. When I saw them a few years ago I caught one of these picks. I always questioned how I would be able to correlate it to DCFC. This photo will serve as my evidence of authenticity. LINK

2. POST. Festival 2024 held in Indianapolis released their full lineup. This will be worth a visit to Indy. LINK

3. Incubus announced a re-imagined re-recording of their 2001 album “Morning View”, a new tour with Coheed and Cambria to celebrate the album, the departure of bassist Ben Kenney, and the addition of Nicole Row. LINK

4. Hawthorne Heights announced their “Silence In Black and White” - Behind The Tears: Acoustic Tour 20 year celebration. LINK

Comedy 🍿

1. Dashboard Confessional shared this meme. Beyond the image itself, the comment thread is 🔥. LINK

2. James (@jamesmakesmusic) released another 🔥 heely video. I could just sit for hours watching these, and yes, I did have this pair of Heelys in my checkout cart this week, but refrained from pressing buy. I cannot guarantee that I will have the same self discipline this week. LINK

Read 📚

1. Jennifer (@thistle_thoughts) shared a personal blog post about seeing Thursday’s War All The Time tour. It was very well done and I enjoyed reading the entirety of the blog. The entire writing resonated with me including the personal stories and anecdotes as I am sure it will with any other long-term listeners of Thursday. Give the post a read and give Jennifer a follow on Instagram. LINK

2. Norman Brannon (of Texas is the Reason and Thursday - also referenced in the intro) is the person bringing the Anti-Matter Zine to the world. In a recent article, the hardcore “passion tax” is referenced and articulated.

   I found deep appreciation with this article because growing up, I always viewed all of these bands that I loved as larger than life millionaires because they were my heroes that influenced and shaped the person that I have become. As I’ve grown to better understand the music industry, it is disheartening to realize how massively incorrect that perspective was. There are always two groups of people that I wish could be overwhelmingly blessed and that is teachers and artists (musicians, creators, photographers, etc.). Anyone that invests in the positive growth and education of the next generation deserves the world. The artists spark our own imaginations and capture or create moments depicting the infinite splendor and beauty of the universe. I am forever grateful for their sacrifices and the “passion tax” that they have so heavily paid. Please find ways to support these artists whether it be buying merch, subscribing to a newsletter such as Anti-Matter, buying a Patreon subscription, or just sharing them with your group of followers. Tell them how much their investment matters and has impacted your life. LINK

Watch 🎥

1. Tucker Rule of Thursday showing a drum kit view of him being the legend that he is performing “Tomorrow I’ll Be You”. LINK

2. Sleeping at Last (Ryan O’Neal) is a guest on the Baking Playlist. LINK

3. TheWorkOfJar published a short documentary of Beartooth called “Below The Surface” and it is all around amazing. LINK

Listen 🎧

1. Something In The Wilderness released a new podcast episode discussing the Something Corporate song “Watch The Sky”. Should it have been a part of North? Listen to find out. My opinion is yes - it has always been a SoCo favorite and would have maintained or enhanced the album’s “no-skip” status. LINK

New Releases 🎵

1. Slo/Tide (Spencer Chamberlain of Underoath) announced the first ever show as well as indicated an upcoming album and merch drop. LINK

2. Dustin Kensrue of Thrice released a new single - “Death Valley Honeymoon”, an upcoming album release on April 5th, announced a new tour, and dropped some cool merch. LINK

3. Blacklit Canopy released a Patient Demos (Deluxe) album on Spotify. LINK

Capture of the week 📷

1. Zach Roy (mud.jpg) 📸 captured some out-of-this galaxy photos of Ryan Key of Yellowcard. Definitely give Zach a follow on Instagram and try to pick a favorite photo from the posts. Hint - you can’t because the entire portfolio is amazing 🔥. LINK