I am a modernist and a futurist. I appreciate art that makes a break from the past, like the work of painters such as Miró, Duchamp and Braque who were all “we seriasly like do not care about the rules of art we’re basically just like totally random and we do what we want and if u don’t like it that’s ur problem.” I mean, why regurgitate some half-assed, contrived version of shit someone else already did when you could do something new and different?? This is why I am annoyed by trends like SLIPKNOTCORE, bands releasing their shit on cassette, 90s worship, and anything else that clings to and rehashes the past instead of doing something new and groundbreaking.
And when it comes to doing groundbreaking shit in the -core scene, imo ATTACK ATTACK take the crown. Looking back, they’re arguably not only among the most influential bands of the last decade, but also the most innovative (srs). So how about instead of doing the usual musicfag thing where we wait until they have been broken up for 10 years before we acknowledge the validity of their work, let’s get stoked on them while they are (kind of) still around. Let’s look at the facts:
I remember the first time I heard “Suddenly Came Someday:” I was partying with my friend Jon and some like 20 year-old “Christian” scene girls at their house. This came on the stereo and I paused in the middle of my conversation with/attempt to smash Afton (yes that was really her name)– “Dude, what the fuck is this??” I asked Jon, “This is amazing!” I had never heard anything like it.
If u are old enough to remember the old website Myspace, you’ll also remember how a lot of bands thought it was really funny to have zany genre listings like the one above– AA basically just took that idea and made an actual band out of it.
What was so awesome about AA is that their style came out of nowhere, a crazy mish mash of genres that made no sense but also made perfect sense at the same time. It’s a very postmodern collision of styles that perfectly illustrates the fact that a lot of Kids These Days are genre-agnostic: if the song is sweet they’re into it, and that’s all that matters. They basically don’t care about genres, at least not how kids did Back In The Day, where you identified as a Punk Rocker, Hardcore Kid, etc and you did NOT listen to anything outside the extremely narrow confines of your self-assigned genre prison.
“Stick Stickly” and this video are basically a note-for-note, pixel-for-pixel template for a whole generation of bands: The haircuts, v-necks and destroyed jeans; the running in place in a grassy field; the synchronized crabbing. The dissonant breakdowns set against the trance parts. Even the Joey Sturgis production became (and basically still is) the sonic template for a whole genre (he has gotten a lot better since this album but the point remains).
While I’m sure there are other bands who did the “top 40 screamo cover” thing before AA did, they were definitely among the earliest metalcore bands to do it and had a big hand in making a top 40 cover a staple of every scene band’s setlist
While nowadays we look at crabcore/risecore as an example of a creatively bankrupt genre full of generic clone bands, the truth is that it was one of the freshest, most shockingly original new styles in years when it came out. Sure, you can point to where they took the bits and pieces (riffs from TDWP, crunk imagery from LIL JON, trance parts from CASCADA or whatever lol, etc) but that’s not the point. The point is that they put all those pieces together, and wrapped it in an image that for whatever reason was exactly what kids were looking for.
IMO “Smokahontas” is the pinnacle of crabcore/risecore, the genre’s single finest moment. Flawless production, br00tal breakdowns, and epic trance/dubstep parts, but unlike the majority of the genre it actually has hooks
Of course, you don’t have to like them, but that doesn’t change the fact that they defined a groundbreaking, unique sound and look that now has thousands of imitators all over the planet. Pretty fucking impressive considering they were just derpy little high school kids from Westerville, Ohio when they did it– and for any haters or doubters, please let us know what YOU did when you were 16 that was more creatively and commercially successful than this.
Its silly when people say stuff like “This band did nothing new, all they’re doing is just taking some things that X and Y did, mixing them together, and doing something slightly different with it!” That’s basically how all music changes. Its not just some band does something with no relation to anything else, its just adding a small twist on things that a couple other bands did. Point is, ppl saying “AA Isn’t innovative, they mixed dumb pop with breakdowns” are basically admitting that AA is innovative.
Also, what do you think of Jackson Pollock? Its definiatley fucking the rules of art, but also at the same time seems (to me) like hack art that takes no skill.
As an art school grad fag I know that feel with Jackson Pollock. I couldn’t stand all my teachers jizzing over him and talking about how genius his work was. I guess the art became how he made it and not what he was making, or something dumb like that.
^ i agree with this. his art was only interesting in terms of the reactions it caused, on a purely formal level it’s poopoo.
Haha. You said poopoo. Yay.
I like to interpret their artwork as pretty much being “haha, ur gay enough to care about this shit” and them pretty much just trolling every “cultured” fggt out there.
See also-John Cage 4’33″? Srs art ppl think that writing nothing is super deep artistic, but the only value it has is exposing how stupid art fags are.
That one’s kind of weird, it was definitely in part him making fun of “experimental composers” who ripped him off but at the same time the point of it was also to listen to the sounds around you isntead of focusing on the performer. So it’s like a combination of trolling musicfags but it also has some kind of deeper meaning that reveals new levels of tr00 musicfaggotry–the mind bottles!
His stuff is a lot cooler irl than when it’s seen in pictures, imo. I hated him until I went to the Met and saw how the paint drops stack on top of each other in neat ways. It’s still B+ at best, tho.
But whereas AA are probably done by later this year, Asking Alexandria (aka AA part deux) are taking this formula, perfecting it, and running with it to the bank.
i love asking alexandria and statistically they are more popular than attack attack, but their upcoming third album has been described by the singer as “the musical baby of motley crue and slipknot”
welcome2HARDROCK
and this is why i love sywh. if i read this article on any other site i would be afraid to read the comments cuz i would know tons of people would completely ignore the entire point and just shit on AA for whatever generic reasons people use to hate on bands like this. but i’m not worried about that at all with the comments here. i know this particular comment isn’t actually adding to the conversation of the article but i just had to explain my appreciation. <3 you all!
Somehow or another we have managed to carve out a little corner of the internet that is not full of faggots. That is a pretty amazing thing imo (srs)
I’m always wondering about this. Generally things like this last maybe a month and then as soon as one fggt hears about it, it’s totally ruined. Everyone here is consistently super cool though, and it’s been that way for a long ass time.
If anything it’s only improved. I remember a year or two ago when the site was more focused on making fun of things you actually like (it’s still like that but more diverse now) and every second post there would be a flood of people saying “YEAH WELL IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT WHY DON’T YOU IGNORE IT INSTEAD OF MAKING A POST ON YOUR GAY WEBSITE”
The following of SYWH has reached critical mass to the point where our collective fun and troll level are so high that we could hold off a legion of faggots.
Theres just enough self referencing to keep people confused, look at /b- when it was all weird shit that no one knew about you had to hang around and get the idea before joining in, then other people (fggts) explained what the fuck they were on about and randoms start posting so the good content leaves and all thats left is the fags
Although I’m not a fan of this type of music, this band has given me some of the best lulz of all time. Srsly this is some cheesey shit right here and you didn’t bust your balls laughing the first time you saw this there is something wrong with you.
I also respect this band for producing even lulzier crabcore bands.
Reading this article was the first time I’ve ever listened to AA songs all the way through. Actually, this might be the first time I’ve ever knowingly heard them at all. I dont really have anything to say about it. I definitely wouldnt have thought of it when I was 16, though I did have a poem published when I was 11 so I dunno.
this minus the published the poem ^^^
also what about the vintage mixed with MCR shots before burning stuff style of the smokahontas video? in january 2011 this was still p original al tho a lot of indie stuff was already becoming more popular. so not only did they use metal, trance, emo, whatever for inspiritation but also indie fggtry.
mind=quite blown by this article
I really like the production on their songs, I think Sarge said “they have alot of attack” and I gotta agree, tone is fucking nasty and they have good attack with their picking hands.
Also seems like this band unfortunately got used as a springboard for people to get into and then trash as soon as they got into real hardcore like TGI. Bands are “entry level” for a reason, and that’s because they are accessible and popular, and the reason they are both of these things is because they are good at what they do. Attack Attack is back tard, bro’s just making music and getting successful, that’s pretty cool.
i love how you used an Evergreen Terrace song title to end the post.
I had this conversation with some of my bros the other day, weird. We were talking about how amazing it was that these fucking kids came out of nowhere to make something really fresh. I’m not sure I know anyone that DOESN’T have Stick Stickly on their iDevice
Totally backing this and I am not all that in to Attack Attack.
Love what you love, adore the things that you grew up with and formed parts of who you are or used to be, sure. What has always left me benignly confused though is why people want to be the things that they love like some autistic kid replying his favorite 5 seconds from a movie hours on end.
This is pretty much the first time I’ve ever heard about Attack Attack and I expected it to be much worse when, in fact, it’s actually pretty damn nice music. I’m not sure I could listen to them every day, but I did listen to all of these songs all the way through and I found them to be quite enjoyable. Not bad at all.
Brb putting Smokahontas with WoP’s California on my “endless repeats” playlist
The fascinatingly postmodern thing about their music is how seamlessly they’ve managed to blend the different influences (esp. on the self-titled album) into a sound that feels natural and organic, unlike that of many other, lesser bands they’ve inspired. And they wrote some damn catchy and aggressive tunes.
My band played a show with them in a warehouse right around Christmas right after they kicked out Austin, they brought a pretty solid crowd. Then a couple months later we played with them and a bunch of other bands I like a huge fest thing and they were THE biggest band, even tho like four more played after them (everyone left). Dudes just completely blew up.
And more importantly, we watched all the little basement metalcore bands shift from trying to sound like TDWP to sounding like Attack Attack, they all pretty much bought synths at some point and threw in dance parts as soon as they heard them. Its fascinating the number of synth players I saw born into existence out of nothing because of this band. Autotune sales probably increased a lot too. Highly innovative for sure.
I remember this transition in the local scene too. But then again I’m pretty sure they weren’t actual pianists (lol) and they just used arpeggiators to make what they were doing sound complex & bizzie.
They just hit one button and made the same sound, then moshed in place for most of the song. A friend of mine with no talent musically had this plan to just buy a synth and join some metalcore band cause his hair was nice enough. Blew all his money tho, coulda made it big :/
Francis Bacon is my fav. His artwork to ‘how he was at that point in his life’ ness is legit.
I like that one where the pope is screaming.
genre-agnostic is how I approach music and how a lot more people than you would think (only nerds take time to voice their opinion) do
aa is one of those band that set the standard for a genre (someday came suddenly) and then take it to the next level or move on while a lot of others band keep trying to do the original thing
While being a big fan I never payed attention to “cabcore” bands (capture the crown)
EL VIEJO ESTABLECE POLLOS AN ESTE
it was i set my friends on fire for me. after hearing them i had to find anything synthcore and that eventually lead to me to attack attack.
Around the time Stick Sickly came out I was diagnosed with IMNbergers Syndrom. This isn’t a happy tale of how Attack Attack cured me; on the contrary. AA were basically the poster band for everything I hated. I remember it was like, “No bro, you want to hear some reaaally awful music, check this out”
Thankfully my issues were short lived and I got some help in between their album cycles. When Smokahontas came out I remember thinking DAT CHORUS THO.
The first time I heard AA was about 2 years ago when I watched the Stick Stickly video. Tbh I was like, “what the fuck?” and assumed it was too weird to last. Now there’s a bunch of bands doing this. Pretty amazing those dudes created a whole new genre in their teens.
i just bought Someday Came Suddenly on CD. It sucks i never got to see them. but they will defiantly be one of the albums i’ll be blasting in the retirement home.
CRABCORE FOREVER
I was totally into the post hardcore scene and around 2006 got bored with it. When someday came suddenly came out, it totally got me back into the core scene. Truly innovative band, but it sucks that their new single is buckcherrycore:(
buckcherrycore
oof :( sadly accurate
Smokahontas is a certified banger and attack attack are a p solid band in general imo. Don’t rly understand how they get a lot of hate…
Also, I’d say enter shikari were pretty influential in the trancecore/myspace era (maybe more for us britfags tho?)
Enter Shikari is da best band evarrrr
I really luuuuuv’d Take To The Skies and liked Common Dreads, but then they got all politicalrapstep and it’s just not that fun to listen to n e more :(
feelsbummer because I rly wanted to like the new stuff.
remember how every kid knew when to clap in Sorry ur not a Winner?
that was a sick tune, and i’m p sure i remember saying i like Enter Shikari off the back of that song, but never bothered to get the album,
Still not my thing, but appreesh the innovation nawamsayin.
Also wattap with the dreads in the Smokahontas video? Seems totally out of place.
I kind of feel the same way about Woe, Is Me. Number[s] is some pretty next level shit. The breakdowns are heavy, the guitar leads are creative and the synth parts actually complement the songs really well. The whole record is really unique sounding.
BACKED
Definitely agree– that album is fucking incredibly well-done. Came out too late to be as influential/innovative as AA but it’s one of the very best examples of the genre.
I fucking love Attack Attack and am super stoked on this post. #scenekidstatus
like the work of painters such as Miró, Duchamp and Braque who were all “we seriasly like do not care about the rules of art we’re basically just like totally random and we do what we want and if u don’t like it that’s ur problem.”
I mean, why regurgitate some half-assed, contrived version of shit someone else already did when you could do something new and different??
:
I hope you are able to see how this disrupts your entire point?
Jokes, how do they work?
do I need to explain that to you, or do you only recognize humor / irony / sarcasms when you use it yourself
You arent making any sense.
Its called an analogy.
maybe you should read it the same way as you did with all the post on this site?
The first paragraph is saying they have a similar mindset. It is not the same thing as saying they are directly copying off those artists. They are a completely different medium for one.
Your literary critique is spot on.
Sarge, u should employ this guy to go over the site with a fine toothed comb and state the obvious a bunch more times
could be a positive impuls for this site
On the other hand, their metalcore/electronica blend is kinda just what Horse the Band did earlier but poppier, more polished (via removing most of the Converge skronk and ikeacore/old school emo leanings) and minus the retro vidyagaemz angle.
I’m guessing that AA weren’t directly influenced by HTB doe so props to them either way I suppose
hah. i feel like no one remembers or cares about horse the band now but they were definitely a really unique sounding band in their time, and even today. bunnies <3
pioneers of zanycore
jesus ruined this band (2 times).
the attack attack album is one of my all time favs
Caleb Shomo is ridiculously smart. Would bro down with him for sure.
moar like Calebs homo amirite guise?
HAY-O!
no shomo
P sure there was a srs plan at some point to make IMPACT shirts that said “SHOMOSEXUAL.” To their credit, they did make this shirt http://attackattack.merchnow.com/images/28351?w=470&h=470
I want to know why innovative Rise bands never keep a lineup together for two records in a row.
Because they are laughed at, at first anyway.
Attack Attack! is definitely among my favourite bands tho.
Probably because they are all like 16 years old and have only been together for 3 months when they record their first albums
In b4 rolling stone is giving the deluxe double-length digital reissue of “Someday Came Suddenly” four stars in 15 years and saying things like “while everyone laughed at the time, Attack Attack came out with a refreshing exercise in genre-bending gymnastics that had undeniable hooks, beefy breakdowns, and songwriting chops every bit as great as the metalcore forefathers that came before them.”
genre-bending gymnastics
ugh this is way too accurate haha
I can really accurately mock lots of things, but the ONE that eludes me currently is Pitchfork/Rolling Stone style musical journalism, aka “Check out my un-helpful adjectives.” I am jelly of your ability.
Dude, please don’t be. I acquired those skills writing my own gay reviews for an old music website a few years back :’(
tfw people think you are mocking something super gay, when really you are mocking yourself
aa! were always my favourite scenecore band. highly advanced and innovative, well-written, relevant music, legit good vocalists & instrumentalists, great production (<3 sturgis. anyone heard his work on the march ahead with johnny franck's ep? one of the best mixes i've ever heard), the fact they are chill bros who talk with fans a lot – wetzel is on formspring lots, the 'jesus' bit for added attractiveness, a great image that some bands still copy, the best/funniest gimmick ever in CRABCORE and a whole lot more. self-titled was amazing, so much going on done so well. dubstep, metalcore, mnstrm dancey shit, ballads, toned-down autotune and some of the best breakdowns of the decade. shame they've gone djentcore but whatever, they were highly influential to today's scene and will be remembered well eventually. good luck to them. also, caleb shomo is the most talented dude to be part of aa!, he is a great synth dude, a good songwriter, a good/decent vocalist and recently a great producer/engineer. his new band beartooth is full of promise.
CRAB FUCKING CORE UNTIL DEATH
Also does anybody remember between Austin and Caleb they had that Nick Barham guy? He was legit the biggest derp of all time haha
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2643/3836298690_91330d602a.jpg
His big brother is in Sleeping With Sirens or something?!?
haha yea he fuckin sucked live. tbf when he was fat caleb did too, but well done for losing dat weight. austin was never in an aa! video. whis makes me sad, imagine how awesome/lulzy it could be…
It is like his chin and his neck are one and the same
Great post, Sarge! How would you compare AA to, say, 18V? I know they’re both important bands in the metalcore scene – which one would you say was more influential?
(Also, I rly like dat Duchamp piece)
the 18V/AA connection is a long story, check this post out:
http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/06/07/the-history-of-metalcorescreamo/
how could I forget that post! definitely one of the most informative ones you’ve written, shame all the commenters cared about was your use of the term “screamo”
It always perplexed me how Abandon All Ships came out about the same time and IMO did the whole crabcore/ trancecore thing better than AA but never really got as big? or as hated? prolly cause they canadians tho.
hah. i remember the days when attack attack and abandon all ships were like the only 2 bands that sounded like this. to be fair though, by the time attack attack released their first full length album, abandon all ships were still in their “shitty demo phase”. their 2009 ep is sweet af doe. they also received mild mainstream attention in canada after appearing on the show “disband” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JORlfT2dx_w
I like how you kept to the earlier days and left out the more recent, dark times of AA, like a Micheal Jackson memorial. +omg haha evergreen terrace = old as fuck!
“I like how you kept to the earlier days and left out the more recent, dark times of AA, like a Micheal Jackson memorial. ”
lolllll
oh and my band opened for them too in AZ. super cool guys, gave my band free AA booty shorts to give to our respective girls.
Had all but forgotten about these dudes. Super stoked on listening to them again. This is why I keep coming back to this site <3
MISS YOU <3
MISS U 2 BBY
I been outta the game doing my science thing. I am def. planning a return / a potential post ‘what do eurobros do in their spare time?”
Their first disk ruled but the best thing about aa is Austin and his crabcore fortune mostly because crabcore fortune is funny to say
“disk”
A+++
I non-ironically agree with this, they paved the way for countless “omg we r so zany!!” bands. Plus dat music is s00pr catchy that even when I was a total IMN faggot i couldn’t help but hum along
Does anyone remember House VS. Hurricane?
That song about Continous Blue is one of my favorite ever in the genre, banger for sure. I remember them having a solid album, and then their latest one was straight boringcore and I turned it off after half a song :(
Played with them a bunch of times, they were great up until recently :(
<3 They used to be such a fun band, w00d still listen to first ep + album over pretty much anything else (second album pree great as well), songs are short, catchy, and sound huge as fuck. Strongest christcore lyrics as well!
Their earliest studio videos are also rly cool imo. They all come across as chill genuine ppl who weren't oversrs about what they were doing and were all about the fun/lolz instead. Those vids pretty much single-handedly made me want to start a dumb band with friends and just not give a fuck about anything while doing it.
fun fact: Chase from City Lights filmed most of those videos!
Knew from your Pcasts that Chase was bros with them, but just now put 2 + 2 together = that’s who they were referring to whenever someone said Chase in those early studio updates.
I really want to thank Sarge and other contributors to this blog for introducing me to bands like Attack Attack and other risecore/crabcore bands. Srs. There’s nothing better than synths combined with breakdowns and danceable beats. I’m in my 30′s and been into metal since I was 12. My roots are black/death metal. Rather than stay an oldfag I’ve never stopped seeking new interesting music. Anyway thanks again, and I love reading about the new bands you discover to. :)
Glad to hear it dude!! Thanks for reading and enjoying new music!
TFW a band of kids your age that you’d prob have been friends with were one of your most hated bands back in 2009/10. Missing out on fun music in its hey-day sucks, I wish I’d loosened up back then.
^ i know that feel bro– better late than never!
I’ve missed these musicfag posts, always been my fave type of over-analysis. I’m not super into AA! but I’m always blown away when I’m reminded how young they were.
Does anyone remember Still Remains? Honestly don’t know if they were big or not but they seem under-rated in their role in shaping modern scene. They have the fggty choruses, breakdowns, synth parts, outdoor videos, matching outfits and nice hair. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQTePyL5lPM
haha i remember hating on these guys back in the day for being one of those metalcore bands to incorporate “clean vocals”
I always thought of still remains as the groundbreakers. I remember reading in an interview that they were TDWP’s main influence. Still remains is def one of my favorite bands still.
AA were a huge part of the Myspace era. I agree with this article completely. I miss that era a lot!!!
<3 thank u attack attack for paving the way for all of the sick bands of today and yesterday. and thank u sarge for this article! crabcore has become such an important part of my lief, i just cant picture what id do without it.
crabcore has become such an important part of my lief
perfect example of why you are the funniest person on this site (srs)
attack attack is utter garbage… they are the epitome of a generic scenecore band lacking in innovation even tho they invented a style of music that had not been heard of before approx 2008 and all the bands i listen to sound like they came from 1995
Still Remains! Hell yes. Another fashioncore pioneer. Facebook activity suggests a new album out soon. Can’t wait.
Oh lol, they’re still a band?! I assumed all of those roadrunner bands fell off the face c 2008