9 songs: Shannon Taylor ('Awakebutstillinbed')

Shannon Taylor from Awakebutstillinbed talks about 9 songs that got her into emo.

Photo by Tommy Ly (Instagram)

1. at the drive-in - hullahoop wounds

i first heard about atdi in high school because i was a huge mars volta fan. i had never really heard anything like it when i checked it out, the vocals were really raw and rough. it was kind of tough for me get into it at first just because i wasn't used to the sound. i remember this song immediately clicked with me when i listened to "in/casino/out", and it helped get me into the style.

2. built to spill - reasons

someone recommended this band to me at the end of high school, and doug martsch's singing, songwriting & guitar playing immediately appealed to me. this record also helped me get into lo-fi production, the way the production on this song compliments the songwriting is really amazing to me. one of my favorite love songs.

3. cap'n jazz - little league

another high school recommendation, but i never got around to checking them out until the year after i graduated. this record honestly totally changed my life. the first time i heard it i didnt like it at all, but something compelled me to keep returning to it, and by my 6th time listening to it i started to really like it. the youthful energy and totally fucked up vocals won me over. i was also enchanted with the mystery and nostalgia behind the record, back in the day it was a lot harder to find information about cap'n jazz than it is now.

4. american football - stay home

after falling in love with cap'n jazz i found american football by looking up associated artists. when i first found them, i thought tim was the vocalist, and that his voice and music had just matured a lot. that meant a lot to me at the time, and i became enamored with this record, and listened to it exclusively for a month or so. i eventually found out tim wasn't even in the band, it was his brother mike's band, but it still really resonated with me anyway. i thought their guitarwork was the most beautiful thing i'd ever heard. i was going through a really intense depression during this time of my life, and this song in particular really helped me through it. 

5. sunny day real estate - song about an angel

after obsessing over cap'n jazz and american football for a while, i realized i needed to delve more into this genre, so i literally went to wikipedia and typed in "emo" and downloaded the records it claimed were definitive. this obviously included "diary" by sunny day. i had a grunge phase in high school, so this band's grungey emo sound was super appealing to me. song about an angel's dynamics & pained vocals really left a lasting impact on me. the way jeremy enigk emotes with his singing voice is incredibly inspirational to me to this day.

6. rites of spring - for want of

another band predictably on the list of important foundational emo bands was rites of spring. i'm gonna be honest and admit that before i got into emo, i had never really had a punk phase, and this band was a totally new thing for me when i checked them out. it had always been hard for me to get into punk and hardcore as a kid, but there was something about this band that won me over. i think it was guy's lyrics and nuts vocal delivery. this song is definitely my favorite rites of spring song.

7. i hate myself - this isn't the tenka-ichi-budokai

a friend who was into emo told me to check out i hate myself, and they really helped me get into screamo. they do a really amazing job bridging the gap between emo and screamo. i love this whole record, but this song makes me super nostalgic.

8. drive like jehu - here come the rome plows

this band is one of the best heavy emo bands. they helped get me into screamo and post-hardcore. hugely important band for me.

9. algernon cadwallader - casual discussion in a dome between two temples

algernon is the first emo revival band i ever heard. for a while i thought emo was a dead genre, i got into all of these old, broken-up emo bands and was really bummed i'd never see them live. i found out about algernon and thats how i found about the new wave of emo bands, and subsequently how i started playing in emo bands. they rule, and this song is one of my favorites by them

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