Bands And What They Remind Me Of

(Via Colossal)

Sometimes when I listen to certain bands, I get a specific feeling.  Sometimes it's a feeling of nostalgia, back to when I first listened to the band and where I was in my life at that moment in time.  Other times the vibe of the band reminds me of a force of nature or a season.  

Once I start to analyze my favorite bands and classify them in such ways, I get carried away in deep thought.  So I decided I'd write a blog post about my a few of favorite bands and what I think of when I hear them.

Fall Out Boy

This band reminds me of wintertime.  A scene I visualize when I listen to them is fresh snow falling from the sky in the middle of winter.  It's the dead of night, and you're trudging down the street with the only the Chicago city lights illuminating your way.  The pollution from the dense city prevents a majority of the stars to shine through.  You exhale and watch your breath freeze in midair. It's cold and you're tired and you had a tough day.  Maybe it was a rough day at work. Maybe you had a bad breakup.  Regardless, all you want to do is get home and hope tomorrow is a better day.  You watch the storm rage on, knowing you still have a long way to go.

Panic! At The Disco

This band reminds me of fall.  A scene I visualize is an evening on the strip of Las Vegas.  Generally, the weather had been really hot considering you were in the desert.  But once fall had begun, it had become the perfect weather.  You had just had a great day.  Whether you had been promoted at work or you found a new significant other, you felt like you were on top of the world.  So for whatever achievement you made, you decided you deserved a reward.  You walk down the strip, gazing at each neon sign, while simultaneously avoiding the early hustle of late night party goers.  Some signs were for casinos, others were for bars.  It didn't matter where you went, all you knew is you were going to have a good time.

Twenty One Pilots

This band reminds me of springtime.  A scene I visualize is a dirty room before spring cleaning.  Spring was meant for new beginnings, so a good first step was to clean a musty room.  As you sift through all of your old belongings and memories that were catching dust, you realize you don't need them anymore.  You throw out your past, eager to start anew.  Once everything you once knew had been washed away, you open up the windows and allow the brisk air to flow in.  You sigh, excited yet anxious to start again.

Walk the Moon

This band reminds me of summertime.  A scene I visualize is a road trip along the California coast in the extreme heat of summer.  It's evening, and you're cruising down the Esplanade on the edge of the ocean with your closest friends.  You can see the orange sun glisten off of each ocean wave as they crash on the shore, inching up and then being dragged back into the vast ocean from which it came.  The salty air billows through your hair while you also breathe it in.  You decide to pull over and go to the beach before the sun sets. As you run with the sand getting in your shoes, a childish grin plasters across your face.  You have no worries.  You have no destination.  Life is an adventure, and you want to live it that way.

These were just some scenes I visualized while listening to the music.  I suppose it got a little too philosophical.  I guess you'd be surprised what you think about if you analyze what you listen to.

Marketing Ploy or Not: Conspiracies on Brendon Urie

(Via Wikipedia)

Contrary to my last post, there is one thing that will get me through this week. Friday is technically the release date of Panic! At The Disco's new album, Death of a Bachelor.  I've been eagerly anticipating this album for several months now. I mean, I've been looking forward to hearing at least half of the album.  The other half has already been released as singles or they've been leaked, which leads me to the basis of this post.

When Panic! At The Disco released the song and music video for one of their singles "Emperor's New Clothes", the album title, song titles, and official release date was also announced.  Because of this big announcement, Brendon Urie, the lead singer of the band, did a live stream on Periscope.  He was answering the usual questions from buzzing fans about the album and the songs, and at one point he even said if it was up to him he would release the album against his management's will.  And perhaps, over the next couple of months, that's exactly what he did.

After the album announcement in October, everything else had gone relatively normal.  There were a couple new music videos made and another single was released.  But around December, that's when things started to get shady.

First, one night on Tumblr, my friend found a peculiar audio clip and sent it to me.  It was the high quality and full length version of one of the songs "Don't Threaten Me With A Good Time".  There was no hint to this being released early at all on any of Panic! At The Disco's social media, so I was curious as to where it came from.  At first I was weary to listen to it because I didn't want to be a bad person and potentially listen to pirated music.  But hey, why not; Brendon Urie would be proud considering how many times he's told his fans to rip his songs off of Youtube.  So I listened to it once and let it be, and about an hour later, all of the audio clips of the song were taken down.


The second shady thing that has happened recently was during a football game. I didn't personally watch it, but according to the internet, a clip of one of the songs called "Golden Days" was playing during a football game before a commercial break like many songs do.  Yet again, they didn't hint this song was going to come out any time soon either.  So why would a sports station have a Panic! At The Disco song that wasn't supposed to be heard until January 15th?

And finally, the most bizarre thing that has happened thus far occurred this week.  A couple of days ago several fans went to Target and came across physical copies of Death of a Bachelor out in the CD section; a little less than a week before the actual release date.  For instance, this is just one of the fans who found a copy and posted it on Twitter.

(Via Ruhquel on Twitter)

Some Target employees have realized that the CDs aren't supposed to be out yet and they've prevented fans from purchasing it, other stores have let the fans get away with it.  This wasn't just one store though, this was several across the nation.  So if that's the case, why would a large corporation like Target mess up the release date of an item in several of their stores across the country?

You've seen the evidence.  Now comes the question.  Is this all an unsaid marketing ploy by Panic! At The Disco?  Or, are all of the leaked songs and miscommunications on the release date of the album a simple coincidence?  In my view, there's no way a sports channel would take unreleased songs without Panic! At The Disco giving it to them first.  I also don't think this many Target stores would mess up on the release date of an item.  Maybe it was Brendon Urie himself who somehow flew to all of the stores and put them there (just kidding).  Basically, it wouldn't surprise me if Brendon Urie was just trying to screw with us.

Why Won't Bands Just Let Me Live

(Via Panic! At The Disco)

Last week on Friday, Panic! At The Disco released a new music video for one of their most recent singles, Victorious.  I had been anticipating the video for a week, just because Victorious is one of my favorite singles for Panic's new album.  So of course, Friday morning, I log onto my computer and go onto their website.  And voila, at 9:30 in the morning, the music video was up in all of it's glory.  A cover frame with Brendon Urie as a wrestler soaked in champagne tempted my click.  So I took the bait, and of course, it was too good to be true. Youtube was blocked on my computer, so I couldn't watch the music video.  I was internally screaming for the rest of the period, but what's new.

Bands choose the absolute worst ways and times to release music.  This example might make it sound like it's my school's fault, but in reality it's not; it's Panic! At The Disco's.  I mean, they should know that the majority of their fans are teenagers.  So, most of them are at school at 9:30 am, or if they're lucky, they're taking that chance to sleep in.  Of course, there are some extreme diehard fans who would try to find a way to watch the video during school, but I'm not that extreme.  My point is, the times bands release new music or music videos are really problematic.

Usually, they don't release music on Fridays at 9:30 in the morning.  It's usually 10:30 at night, on an obscure day like a Monday.  Panic! At The Disco and Fall Out Boy both do this, unfortunately.  Which is slightly inconsiderate of the band's fans because like I've said, most of them are teenagers.  Obviously, if they release music that late at night, I'm gonna stay up and listen to it for a few hours.  It seems like a good idea at the time, but I always end up regretting it in the morning when I only get around five hours of sleep.

And it's not just the date and time they release their new stuff, it's also just their marketing strategies.  For instance, when Fall Out Boy were releasing their new album this year, American Beauty/American Psycho, they made the whole entire album available on Youtube a whole week before the actual release date. Of course, this is partially because someone already leaked it on the internet prior to the early Youtube release by the actual band.  It doesn't sound like a big deal, but when I'm studying for a test in January and an album I had been anticipating for four months is released early, I'm going to drop everything and listen to that instead.  But at least Fall Out Boy actually had a reason to release their album early.  On the contrary, when Twenty One Pilots were releasing their newest album, Blurryface, they actually leaked their own album early on purpose.  It was probably because their record label couldn't control their creativity, or some fake deep stuff like that.  There are plenty of other examples of this, but I think I'll save them for a future blog post.

Basically, bands just won't let me live.  On top of sports and school, bands almost act like an extra homework assignment.  I mean, new music should immediately make me happy rather than stressed out.  But hey, I haven't stopped listening to them yet, right?

That One Time I Fought A Thirty Five Year Old Man On The Internet (The Shane Morris Saga Part One)

One of my passions is screwing with people on the internet -- especially adults. More specifically thirty five year old men who are music managers in Tennessee. Even more specifically music managers named Shane Morris.

Let me explain first.  Shane Morris was Ryan Ross' music manager after Ryan left Panic! At The Disco.  Shane helped manage Ryan's new band, the Young Veins, but then their relationship stopped after that band broke up and some other personal stuff happened between them.  So after that happened, Shane Morris now resides in Tennessee and helps manage newly signed country bands. So even though he isn't relevant anymore regarding Ryan Ross or Panic! At The Disco, I still decided to follow him on Twitter. 

Over this past year, another app through Twitter called Periscope, has become very popular.  Basically, Periscope is a live streaming app where people can watch someone and comment on their stream.  I downloaded the app because the lead singer of the band Panic! At The Disco, Brendon Urie, started using it and his streams were pretty fun to watch.  So whenever someone I follow on Twitter goes live on Periscope, I get a notification.

(Via Wikipedia)

One day this past summer I got a Periscope notification from Shane Morris, titled "Opinion on Soul Punk".

NOW I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW SOUL PUNK IS ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE ALBUMS. (Which I'll probably talk about in a future post.) Soul Punk is an album that Patrick Stump, the lead singer of Fall Out Boy, released during Fall Out Boy's hiatus. It's a gift from the heavens and I love it a lot -- So much to the point where I'd defend it on the internet against some music manager in Tennessee.  

So I joined the stream and was ready to fight.  I was a little late joining so he was in the middle of talking about something else.  So I asked the chat "What did he diss about Soul Punk?"  And he stopped, read my comment out loud, and then immediately got defensive.  It's always a slightly unsettling experience to have your comment read out loud; that was the first time it had happened to me on Periscope.  He proceeded to then talk about how he didn't like the album -- how the genre was bad, how bad the lyrics were written, and how bad Patrick's voice was.

So at that point I was rEADY TO PUNCH HIM THROUGH MY PHONE.  After he moved on to complaining about Patrick Stump's fashion choice in that era, I decided it was my turn to step in.  At the time, Shane Morris was standing outside of his Tennessee home wearing this:

(Via Twitter)

So I typed in the chat "You shouldn't be talking, do you see what you're wearing right now?" I mean, just look at that piece of trash.  His sunglasses look like ski goggles and his hair looks like an egg with a mop attached to it.  So after a small delay, Shane read it.  He immediately went from a chill ranting face to a face of rage. I don't remember what he said exactly, but he proceeded to tell me the origin of his sunglasses.  Shane explained that when he was a teen growing up in the 90's, his goal was to become super successful and stuff.  One of his goals was to acquire the Oakley sunglasses in the photo above.  They were apparently exclusive and expensive in the 90's, so he really wanted them. So now that he was a fairly successful music manager in Tennessee, he was able to get the sunglasses from his teen years and achieve his goals.  Yeah, yeah, good for him. (That still doesn't mean they don't look like trash.)

(Via ReplyGif)

So he bragged on and on about that for awhile and I forgot what I said but I said something in the chat and he ended the Periscope out of anger.  Kira: 1. Shane Morris: 0.  It was fun to make this guy all pissed off over his sunglasses; that was a day well spent.

This is pretty much the end of the Shane Morris Saga Part One.  There'll probably be a couple more stories, but you never know.