Tag: The 2000’s
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Thrice ‘The Artist in the Ambulance’ (2003)
To say this The Artist in the Ambulance is one of my favorite albums of all-time might be an understatement. This is one of the best post-hardcore heavy rock albums of all time. Today we explore why.
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The Forms ‘The Forms’ (2007)
The Forms blend intricate indie rock with art-inspired elements, complex time signatures and captivating vocal arrangements. The band has created a puzzle-like quality that challenges listeners while maintaining a clear sense of purpose.
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The Days of Stillness ‘The Days of Stillness’ (2006)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Today we’ll be covering my high school band The Days of Stillness. We re-released our old recordings this week onto the world wide web, and as part of the process I got together with the guys to reminisce about those golden days of our late teenage years and what it was like playing…
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Bodyjar ‘How It Works’ (2000)
Hearing How It Works first song “Not The Same” always manages to bring me back to the glory days of middle school. I was a pretty religious video game player back in the day and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was an absolute go-to. That series was a defining part of my childhood and digging back…
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Millencolin ‘Home Sweet Home’ (2002)
Home From Home found Millencolin stretching out and showing just how much range lives inside their high-speed, melodic punk DNA. While rooted in the band’s Swedish skate punk core, this album isn’t afraid to take detours across a wide variety of punk genres. There’s a garage rock looseness to tracks like “Man or Mouse,” a…
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Wheatus ‘Wheatus’ (2000)
Wheatus’ self-titled debut was an album I never listened to in full until about two weeks ago. And while it’s a solid offering front to back, the album was really a delivery system for their single “Teenage Dirtbag” which still to this day remains an iconic late 90’s/early aughts alternative rock song. This the kind…
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Modest Mouse ‘Good News For People Who Love Bad News’ (2004)
For a band that had spent the late ‘90s weaving anxious existential crisis songs in near-obscurity Good News For People Who Love Bad News felt like a sharp left turn for Modest Mouse. At the center of it all was “Float On”, a song so relentlessly optimistic it felt almost suspicious (especially coming from the…
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MGMT ‘Oracular Spectacular’ (2007)
There was a time—somewhere between the collapse of the MySpace Top 8 and the rise of ironic mustaches (guilty)—when my generation went off to college and experienced our first real taste of freedom. You know the moments. BitTorrent running 24/7 on your laptop, skinny jeans that had lived three lifetimes, bedsheets that hadn’t been washed…
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Bayside ‘Bayside’ (2005)
Bayside is part of a rare breed of bands from the mid-aughts who despite being really good 20 years ago might be even better today. Their 2024 album There Are Worse Things Than Being Alive is an absolute banger, rivaled in stature only by their second album Bayside which we’ll be covering today. All the…
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The Unband ‘Retarder’ (2000)
Known for their wild live shows that featured on-stage antics like vomiting, lighting fires, and stripping on stage, The Unband are certainly a chip off the ol’ block when it comes to good ol’ fashioned rock and roll. Their music embraces the same reckless hedonism that their live shows celebrated, taking a page out of…
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Panic! at the Disco ‘A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out’ (2005)
Hearing A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out as a teenager felt like stepping into a neon-lit circus where every song was bursting with drama, angst, and theatrical flair. Brendon Urie’s vocals soared effortlessly from smooth crooning to high-flying belts. It’s rare that you can ever describe a pop punk album as being operatic but this…
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Sum 41 ‘Half Hour of Power’ (2000)
Hate to be the old head hucking around hot takes, but Half Hour of Power is my favorite album by Sum 41. I’m not claiming that it’s their best album or the one I would recommend to folks listening to them for the first time (that would obviously be All Killer, No Filler). But Half…
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Bloc Party ‘Silent Alarm’ (2005)
I remember the first time I heard Silent Alarm it felt like some lightbulbs went off in my brain. Here was an album that defied a lot of traditional songwriting barriers and embraced a genre-blurring approach that fused post-punk urgency with electronic music. It was an album that threw the middle finger up to rigid…
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Coheed and Cambria ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ (2003)
Coheed and Cambria blend progressive rock, post-hardcore, and a deep love for sci-fi storytelling. Their albums follow The Amory Wars, a sprawling space opera written by lead singer and frontman Claudio Sanchez. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 is no exception, packed with soaring melodies, intricate guitar work, and dramatic, theatrical vocals. It’s ambitious,…
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Tim O’Brien ‘Rock In My Shoe’ (2006)
I’m in Nashville this week for a combo trip of work and pleasure. The Music City is such an incredible place– from the bright lights of Broadway to the mood of Music Row, every time I’m out here I have a blast. This evening I’ll be headed to the iconic Station Inn to watch famed…
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Further Seems Forever ‘The Moon Is Down’ (2001)
Pretty much everyone in my elder millennial age group remembers Chris Carrabba for his work with Dashboard Confessional in the early 2000’s. As I wrote about in my review of Dashboard’s 2001 album The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most, Carrabba single-handedly made the introverted kid lacking self-confidence blessed with a penchant for…
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Avenged Sevenfold ‘Waking The Fallen’ (2003)
Waking the Fallen sits alongside Killswitch Engage’s The End of Heartache as a massively influential album in my love for contemporary metal music. As I’ve detailed endlessly over the past few years I was a huge punk rocker during my formative years. Avenged Sevenfold was one of those bands that, despite being a heavy metal…
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Frightened Rabbit ‘The Midnight Organ Fight’ (2008)
Frightened Rabbit sounds like the soundtrack to nearly every Indie film from the mid-aughts. Sentimental and cinematic, hazy with reverb and quiet in its approach. There’s a subtle longing in every word and note on The Midnight Organ Fight that feels like you’re opening a diary and reading the words verbatim on the page. It’s…
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Linkin Park ‘Hybrid Theory’ (2000)
In 2000 I was in seventh grade when Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory dropped. At that point I was starting to get into some of the nu-metal bands (as I discussed in my write up for Limp Bizkit’s Significant Other) but once Linkin Park stormed onto the scene it sort of redefined the possibilities of rap-rock…
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Dredg ‘Catch Without Arms’ (2005)
Growing up in the Bay Area I always felt a special connection to the local music scene and the bands that came from it. Dredg was one of those band for me– they formed just down the road from my hometown in Los Gatos, CA and had a pretty big pop into the mainstream when…
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Tool ‘Lateralus’ (2001)
Maynard James Keenan is one of alternative rock’s most enigmatic and influential figures. The dude the genre over the past three decades with his distinct voice, intellectual lyricism, and multifaceted artistry. As the frontman of three pretty killer rock bands (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer) he has a chameleon-like ability to shift between various forms–…
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The Killers ‘Hot Fuss’ (2004)
The Killers’ Hot Fuss remains one of the most electrifying debut albums in alternative rock history, a record that blends the grandeur of synthesizer-driven melodies with the grit of heavy, intricate guitar work. Tracks like “Mr. Brightside” showcase the band’s technical prowess, with its instantly recognizable riff being deceptively difficult to play (seriously that thing…
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The White Stripes ‘White Blood Cells’ (2001)
In the early 2000s The White Stripes almost singlehandedly reinvigorated garage rock and sparking a renaissance for the raw, unpolished sound the genre was known for. At their core was an enigma– Jack and Meg White, a duo whose relationship was shrouded in mystery. Were they siblings? Ex-spouses? The band reveled in the ambiguity, allowing…
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Relient K ‘Let It Snow Baby…Let It Reindeer’ (2007)
My love for pop punk isn’t a well-kept secret (it’s basically the genre that shaped my musical tastes in middle school as I’ve described in great detail over the past two years) and Relient K is one of those bands that have always held a special place in my heart. Their 2004 magnum opus Mmhmm…
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Twisted Sister ‘A Twisted Christmas’ (2006)
A Twisted Christmas is the ultimate holiday mashup of glam metal excess and yuletide cheer, proving that even the wildest rockers can embrace the Christmas spirit—on their own terms. Released in 2006, the album reimagines holiday classics like “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Deck the Halls” with the band’s signature blend of roaring guitars,…
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Kermit Ruffins ‘Have A Crazy Cool Christmas’ (2009)
Kermit Ruffins embodies New Orleans’ joyous spirit– with his swinging trumpet, warm voice, and infectious charisma, Ruffins has become a beloved fixture in the city, carrying on the legacy of jazz greats like Louis Armstrong while adding his own modern flair. From the streets of the Treme neighborhood to packed local bars and legendary festivals,…
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Brand New ‘Your Favorite Weapon’ (2001)
When Brand New dropped Your Favorite Weapon in 2001, few could have predicted the monumental impact the Long Island band would have on alternative music in the decade that would follow. At its core their debut was a fiery pop-punk record, drenched in youthful angst, sharp melodies, and Jesse Lacey’s piercingly personal lyrics. The energy…
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Andrew W.K. ‘I Get Wet’ (2001)
At the end of the day rock and roll is meant to be fun, and a guy like Andrew W.K. gets that. I Get Wet is a riotous, adrenaline-fueled ode to reckless abandon, capturing the sheer joy of living in the moment and completely disregarding whatever responsibilities await tomorrow morning. The album is a wall-to-wall…
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The Jealous Sound ‘Kill Them With Kindness’ (2003)
The Jealous Sound’s music occupies a bittersweet niche in indie rock’s history—respected by peers and beloved by fans, yet never achieving mainstream recognition. Rising from the remnants of Knapsack and Sunday’s Best, the band crafted a distinctive sound blending Blair Shehan’s understated, palm-muted rhythms with Pedro Benito’s shimmering leads. Their music, at once emotionally charged…
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Queens of the Stone Age ‘Songs for the Deaf’ (2002)
Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme has always been a personal favorite of mine. He’s an alternative rock juggernaut, with a drugged-out and sleazy vibe that immediately makes you feel like you’re halfway through a bottle of tequila every time you hear him play. He plays like the guitar with an almost Medieval…
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Underoath ‘Define The Great Line’ (2006)
After the success of They’re Only Chasing Safety Underoath had a choice to make when recording their follow up album— double down on the polished pop screamo sound that made that album a cult classic, or further explore some of the metalcore aspects littering that album. They chose the latter and they were decisive, as…
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At the Drive-In ‘Relationship of Command’ (2000)
At The Drive-In’s Relationship of Command stands as a watershed moment in the post-hardcore genre, blending frenetic energy with intricate lyrical depth. Released in 2000, the album captures the raw intensity of the band’s sound, characterized by Omar Rodríguez-López’s frenetic guitar work and Cedric Bixler-Zavala’s impassioned vocal delivery. Tracks like “One Armed Scissor” and “Pattern…
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Dizzee Rascal ‘Tongue n’ Cheek’ (2009)
Born Dylan Mills, Dizzee Rascal grew up in a challenging environment in East London’s council estates, where he struggled academically and often got into trouble. A transformative music class provided him a refuge, allowing him to create his own unique productions and develop a distinct lyrical style. Influenced by U.S. hip-hop, his songwriting evolved to…
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The Hellacopters ‘High Visibility’ (2000)
Garage rock has been one of my favorite musical genres for as long as I’ve been listening to music. The sound of a Gibson Les Paul plugged into a Marshall amp is a sound as pure as the driven snow, a timeless blend of American ingenuity and testosterone-fueled machismo that immediately burrows its way into…
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Maylene & The Sons of Disaster ‘Self-Titled’ (2005)
I first learned about Maylene & The Sons of Disaster after falling in love with Underoath’s album They’re Only Chasing Safety in 2004. That album is a magnum opus in the post-hardcore genre, I was completely obsessed, and I soaked up everything associated with the band. Upon doing a little bit of research and listening…
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The National ‘Boxer’ (2007)
It’s been a few years since I’ve listened to Boxer. I burned through this album during my early 20’s (it was my de facto soundtrack during my commute up highway 280 from Cupertino to San Mateo during my first job out of college) and it sounds just as great as it did back then. The…
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