I took a few days off for Stacey’s birthday celebration this weekend. We started it with a great day: Plant Power croissandwich and breakfast burritos, a few hours at the beach, watching Whiplash win on Battlebots, and of course the Duke game vs TTU. Paolo is a bad dude, but we will win this year because of Jeremy Roach, Mark Williams, and team defense.
Pegboy “Strong Reaction”
First one today is a 90s punk song I heard for the first time recently. Pegboy gets referenced in a bunch of influential punk and melodic hardcore conversations, rightfully so. The band was started in 1990 by the ex-Naked Raygun guitarist, John Haggerty. Their first record, an EP with the amazing title Three Chord Monty, was followed by their full length Strong Reaction in 1991.
A more traditional punk rock verse starts the song, but the chorus is a stellar example catchy melodic punk with emo lyrics. Rites of Spring type emo, not Bright Eyes. Listening through the rest of the record makes it clear the song structure was no accident. Hard hitting verses coupled with power sing-along choruses.
I walk alone through the sleet and snow and pouring rain to,
Pegboy
Get my heart broken, forever ever lost inside of,
I walk along to slip and fall on strong reactions,
Keep my heart broken, never ever amend myself
Recover “Betting All I Have”
Recover is an Austin post-hardcore band that I saw open for all kinds of bands I was into. They had a couple hits on the Texas rock radio stations, but never broke too big nationally. If you were seeing Taking Back Sunday, Thursday, Jimmy Eat World, or The Get Up Kids in Texas in the early 2000s, expect a Recover opener. Smaller ska punk tours like Link 80 / Voodoo Glow Skulls could expect a different but equally hard-rocking Texas opener, Crash 81.
To my surprise, Recover played the Duke Coffeehouse, a small venue on East Campus, spring of my freshman year. They opened for a Chris Carrabba-less Further Seems Forever, and rocked some faces that night, mine and C.Smith’s included.
Hadn’t heard this in many years yet it only took 2 words (0:01 into the song) for the rest of the lyrics to snap back into my head. As the title may indicate, the track was on a few poker mixes back then, no doubt.
Cursive “The Casualty”
They released the album Domestica in 2000, a concept album tracking the death of a relationship. The record is full of the angular guitars, intense vocals, and the raw energy you came to expect from these Saddle Creek heroes.
Cursive was the talk of the indie/punk world when The Ugly Organ came out, and I was already a big fan of their first record. It made for a killer show when they headlined Cat’s Cradle in 2003. The heavy sound and chaotic live show were perfectly complimented by their cello player rocking harder the SF Symphony backing Metallica.
Be sure to check out lead singer Tim Kasher’s other indie band from the 2000s, The Good Life. Their album Lovers Need Lawyers contains a few call backs to the stories in song on the Domestica record.
