I’ve noticed a distinct change in the direction I’ve gone with my first song of the day. There is that moment, typically waiting for an XD cloud file to load, that I pull up Spotify and click on the first song I can think of. I choose quickly for the first one to get started and generally add 2-3 more to the queue to get the day rolling.
sports. “Words that Rhyme with Different”
This was the awakening that I was in full sad guy mode. I’d drifted deep into the Midwest emo scene. We’ve got a quote in the chorus referencing an even deeper dive into the scene. I hadn’t been this immersed in the wallowing despair since seeing Appleseed Cast open for Get Up Kids in Oklahoma.
There are some pretty miserable lyrics going on, but I dig the opening guitar riff and the guy’s phrasing. Some cringeworthy stuff, but I felt and said some cringey stuff when I was 18 too.
I haven’t slept a wink in what feels like days,
tough afternoon bro
But I know I’ve only been awake since noon today,
And it’s 4 PM,
Fun Fact: you’ll see the band referenced as sports. (Emo) on a few sites. Not only for the weird noodling guitar licks, but this one suffers “American Football” syndrome. Clearly neither of them are about athletics. This (Emo) tag minimizes that time the “spoooorts” radio drop plays in my head at least. #theTicket
Sebadoh “Flame”
I was on a time killing walk, waiting for my car to be ready, and I had this song come up randomly. I was starting to get into the track despite having never heard it. I couldn’t help but smile when I checked the title.
Sebadoh.
Not sure why I remember this, but Adam worked with a dude at Cheddars that dressed pretty punk rock. We were into drive-thru records style bands and dude was like, “you’re not punk if you don’t listen to Sebadoh”. I’m thinking it was Smyers? Well, I understood a little better what he was talking about after this little walk. Even though I wouldn’t call this punk rock, I get where he was (wrongly) coming from.
Infectious bass line, aggressively late 90s video vibes.
Sincere Engineer “Recluse in the Making”
Not a far stretch to figure out where today’s title came from. This is a slow and plodding song, a stark contrast to the typically hard rocking record. The lyrics speak to a lot of familiar points and feelings.
Ain’t it just like me,
Sincere Engineer
To let my life pass me by,
To never once even try
When I catch myself relating to statements like that, I know I’m not seeing things with the appropriate perspective. Thankfully the moments are fleeting, and I’m incredibly lucky to have Stacey around to remind me to stop lying to myself. More open than I planned, I just thought I liked the recluse part what with Covid and all.
