The Flatliners-Cavalcade (2010)

Why I like it:

The Flatliners are a band that started in their teens, as high school friends, and eventually signed with the legendary Fat Wreck Cords. As the story goes, they sent a demo tape to the record label, after playing in the DIY scene of Toronto for sometime, and got signed on shortly after. What a way to start your music career! The Flatliners also started out as a Ska Band, then progressed to the punk band that most folks know them as. 

I've been following the Flatliners' career since the 2017 release of Inviting Light (which is a great album). I wish I could say I was cooler and was following them since the mid 2000s work but that would be a lie. After I dug into their discography more, I started falling in love with their other albums and Cavalcade especially stood out to me. What solidified the fandom for me was listening to interviews with this band. They seem like a fun loving group of best friends that are playing for the love of their art and nothing more.

Cavalcade is a straight banger of a melodic punk album from start to finish. You get the gruff whiskey tinged vocals of Criss Cresswell and the energetic sing along choruses peppered throughout. The lyrics are also earnest and relatable. That artwork is pretty rad too. What more can you want from a punk album? 

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Highlighted song and lyrics:

Monumental-"Put on a pair of sunglasses/That turn February gray into everything yellow"

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Similar bands to check out:

Arms Aloft, Junior Battles, Off With Their Heads, Have nots

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Reviews and links to check out:

Brokenheadphones.com- Review

Punks in Pubs Podcast- Interview

That One Record Podcast- Deep dive into Cavalcade

Fest 2017 live

Big Shiny Tunes 5 (2000)

(my own copy of the CD)

Why I love it:

I've talked about Big Shiny Tunes a couple times in this blog now so it's about gosh darn time I made a post about it! To give a quick background, the Canadian version of MTV (called MuchMusic) distributed a series of compilation CDs throughout the 1990s and 2000s. They were basically mixtapes of Canadian, American and some European bands. 

The Big Shiny Tunes compilation CDs played a pivotal role in my discovery of different rock genres including alternative rock, pop-punk, emo, and even nu-metal. In addition it put a lot of smaller Canadian bands in the spotlight with the big American ones (ex Matthew Good Band being beside Matchbox 20). In my young pre-teen mind these Canadian bands were just a popular and cool as the American ones. 

So why did I pick the 5th version of this CD you may ask? Especially when it was not voted very high in the rankings of these CDs (see the rankings list linked below, it was last lol). Easy answer, did you ever own an album or mixtape that changed everything? It was the catalyst to begin a journey of your own self discovery of music tastes (that's not just what your parents listened to)? Well for me this was THE album. 

I remember my dad bought the Big Shiny Tunes 5 CD for me while we were on vacation and I played it obsessively in the discman and sometimes in our car rides along the beachside (when it was allowed). Once I owned this CD I wanted to own the other Big Shiny Tunes too, then started making mixtapes of my own and discovering new music along the way. Thus, began my music addiction that's still active today! 

For the none Canadians out there (as I don't need to convince any Canadians reading this) I will pitch that these are some seriously well designed mixtapes. If anything, it should give take you on a trip through memory lane listening to the likes of Blink-182, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Deftones, and Everclear. Along the way you can discover some new bands too :)

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Highlighted songs:

Matthew Good Band-Load Me Up

Filter-Take a Picture

Sum 41-Makes No Difference

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Other Big Shiny Tunes CDs to check out:

Big Shiny Tunes 1

Big Shiny Tunes 3

Big Shiny Tunes 8

Big Shiny Tunes 11

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Reviews and links to check out:

Tenyearstoolate.wordpress.com- Review

Oral History of Big Shiny Tunes

Life to Labyrinth Podcast- Retrospective of Big Shiny Tunes 2 and 3

Indie88.com- MuchMusic’s ‘Big Shiny Tunes’ Albums, Ranked

Planes Mistaken For Stars-Planes Mistaken for Stars (1999)

Why I like it:

The reason I was inspired to write about Planes Mistaken for Stars is a dour one. The lead singer Gared O'Donnell sadly passed away this November and it seemed like an appropriate time to highlight the band and their influential music.

Now I picked the body of work (an EP) that has spoken most to me over the years, which also has their most played song "Copper and Stars" on it. I loved the harshness of the vocals, that are partially screaming, which is paired with moments of calm before the EP goes right into the aggressive hooks again. It's a perfect 24 min EP to play in the chilly months of winter when you need catharsis, in the form of true emotional hardcore.

Just because this is my favorite body of work doesn't mean it's Planes Mistaken for Star's best work. If you want something even darker, with sludge and metal mixed in, then I would recommend checking out the albums Up in Them Guts and Mercy. The way the band was able to evolve their sound, in way that is uniquely theirs, is an inspiration for any person that creates art. 

Listening to interviews and how people speak about Gared O'Donnell, I can see why he (and the band) was so regarded and why their fans are so loyal. I recommend listening to some of his interviews and watching their live shows to get an idea of how truly great this band was. RIP Gared and may your music and words live on.

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Highlighted song and lyrics:

Where the Arrow Went Out-"If I never see your face again it won't kill me half as much as it will keep me alive"

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Similar bands to check out:

Small Brown Bike, Glass and Ashes, Kylesa, Army of Ponch

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Reviews and links to check out:

100 Words or Less Podcast- Interview

No Plus Ones Podcast- Retrospective of Gared O'Donnell

Punknews.org- Review

Live at Michigan Fest 2002