My love letter to my local scene aka Please come dive in puddles with me
So I don’t think I had a typical high school experience but I don’t think I had an atypical one either. I didn’t really do dances or extracurriculars for the most part. I did my homework, I didn’t do drugs, I didn’t drink, I was in band, I was smart and well liked and I don’t think I was anyone’s definition of a dork or outcast even though most of the things I just listed are stereotypes of just that. Although I don’t think my high school experience is atypical in general I do think it was atypical for my school. It was once I started college and gained new friends that I realized that we all had such a similar experience. It wasn’t until more recently that I’ve started to realize that the main thing we all had in common were shows. It’s something I took for granted at the time but while the majority of my peers were at parties in the woods, or sporting events on Friday nights I was at local shows in whatever basement or garage we could find. At the time it felt like my friends and I were the only kids that got this but I’ve loved meeting people who grew up in entirely different places but had this exact same experience. I graduated high school in 2002 and the music I spent my time listening to in 2001/2002 is still some of my favorite music ever - if for no other reason than the memories I associate with those albums. So this is my list of top cds from high school that helped form my musical tastes of today for better or worse.
So this list is to: driving crappy cars with too many stickers, working terrible jobs just to have money for gas and the cover at the venue, not being the stupid drunk kid throwing up outside, sleeping in cars, driving absurd distances at far too young of an age for loud rock shows, knowing how to hold your own at hardcore shows without getting a black eye, knowing every kid in your scene, john hughes, john cusack & lloyd dobler, yelling til you lose your voice, venues with no air conditioning, paying your way in a show with a bag of m&m’s and a foam #1 finger that someone gave you at the X-games, knowing every word, starry nights in flip flops, being able to say “I saw them in a garage”, having a saves the day soundtrack to your life, diners at 3am & getting first tattoos in memory of these experiences.
In no order (because it’d be impossible to order)
Dashboard Confessional - The Swiss Army Romance | *So Impossible EP
“… you always wear blue”
The Get Up Kids - Something to Write Home About
New Found Glory - From the Screen to Your Stereo | Sticks and Stones
Something Corporate - Leaving Through the Window
The Ataris - Blue Skies, Broken Hearts…Next 12 Exits | End Is Forever
The Starting Line - Say It Like You Mean It
Taking Back Sunday - *Tell All Your Friends
Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon
Saves the Day - Through Being Cool | Stay What You Are | *I’m Sorry I’m Leaving
“and oh oh oh wanted to pull you down… “
*If there were a top 3 these would be the contenders.
Reblog yours.
