When Saosin dropped Translating the Name in 2003 I was just getting into post-hardcore scene. And holy shit did this album hit like an earthquake. I remember listening to this 15-minute EP almost non-stop with my friends riding around in my buddy Mark’s white Jeep or Nick’s pickup truck. It basically became our gateway to post-hardcore music, an album that felt like someone had taken all my teenage angst and turned it into something beautifully cathartic. And what’s interesting about this EP is how it spread like wildfire on MySpace– as guitarist Beau Burchell said, “We weren’t even a bona‑fide band yet and we started to see more and more people listing Saosin as music they liked, and some bands were even listing us as an influence.” It was one of those kinda-had-to-be-there sorts of thing.
With its dizzying blend of technical precision and emotional volatility (welcome to mid-2000’s post-hardcore!), Translating the Name almost single-handedly defined what the genre was. The lineup on this record was a rare convergence of standout musicians at the peak of youthful experimentation. Beau Burchell’s guitar work stitched together mathy riffs and ambient textures with surgical precision, Justin Shekoski’s lead guitar lines darted in and out like greased lightning, the drumming from Pat Magrath (who was shortly replaced by the criminally underrated Alex Rodriguez) delivered a level of technical finesse uncommon for the genre at the time, and. Chris Sorenson’s basslines always playfully teased out the harmonic tones underneath the guitars. And at the center of it all was Anthony Green, whose voice felt like a raw nerve that had been set on fire. I’ve talked about him forever in this space over the years, but he truly is a once in a generation vocalist, capable of soaring falsetto highs and cracked screams that sounded more like pleading than singing. It was perfect.
Translating The Name is hardcore with a poet’s heart and a technician’s brain. Even two decades since I first heard this album it remains a measuring stick by which I evaluate any band playing heavy and melodic guitar rock. It’s five songs of absolute perfection.
Standout Songs: The whole damn thing
