Easton's Blog #006: More Writng, More New Lyrics

I know I've got a lot going for me
so why can't I get what I want
cause what I want's becoming what I need

fast weeks the lead to my favorite Friday
and I swear the smoke spells out your name
baby, it scares you to be crazy around me

and now my heart
is breaking off

she knows she's got a lot going for her
and who am I just to call her
cause she's tired, so I figure

or is it that I might be the guy
you wanna spend all your time with
baby, it scares you to be crazy around me

and now my heart
is breaking off
and now you've got
a little of my love

Nick's Blog #014: Whoops, New Song Clip Leak... (Sort of)

So I stumbled upon this video late last night and found something rather interesting. The video was put up by us last March in promotion for Autumn in the Evening which was released in June. It features two second samples of every song on the album... sort of. We made a quick change in the track line up after Easton wrote Mistakes! sometime in April. What I hadn't realized before now is that that video contains a full two seconds of the original 4th track to Autumn in the Evening.

Exciting, isn't it? I know. Try to keep it under control. You can hear this sneaky little clip at 0:30 seconds into the video. :)

Easton's Blog #005: I Wrote A New X-Mas Song!

Here are some lyrics to a new xmas song:

when it comes to Christmas
it brings out these things in me
and since i love to see you
can't you just pretend that you wanna see me
and all the things we could do
in a weekend or two
just call me a snowman
melting for you

and all my past endeavours of winter
have left me sick
and i just gotta change the spin
but first i gotta find a way in
oh all the things we could do
in a weekend or two
just call me a snowman
melting for you
to think this carol could bring us both together

so I will try
yeah I might die
just to find someone to hold
for the first time
I will love
I don't care, I don't care

you can bet I'll keep on bringing it
if only for the evening, baby
oh I pour my heart out
and they just don't care
but you bet your ass I'm bringing it
if only for the evening, baby
oh I'll bleed my heart out
and these bitches couldn't give a shit, sing it

and you think you find a diamond
that's only falsely shining, baby
cylinders are firing
and you just don't care
and I'd keep you smiling
and only happy crying, darling
Christmas is calling
and I'm yours
I'm yours

Easton's Blog #004: New Lyrics

Some lyrics to a new song:

i’m thinking that it’s time
for things to fall into place
it starts out with a girl
and a smile on her face
young adults will wine and dine
and I’ll pretend to know the rhyme
but all I can do
is get to know you
cute girls will point their toes
if only just to end a look
you make me a fool
i’m here to crumble for you

i’m here to crumble for you
and oh babe, well how’s your day going without me
yeah I want all my days to end with you

i’m thinking that it’s time
for me to care like I used to
well, when I used to love
but those feelings just die and rise
and die and rise
I never thought that I would be
such a subject of a balcony scene
all I can think
is what’s she thinking
cute girls will point their toes
if only just to end a look
you make me your fool
i wanna crumble with you

i wanna crumble with you
and oh babe, well how’s your day going without me
yeah I want all my days to end with you

November 6, 2009 @ Hot Topic - Monterey, Ca

November 6th, 2009 @ Hot Topic, Monterey, Ca - 4:00 PM

In store performance at Hot Topic in the Del Monte Shopping Center, Monterey, Ca

We played a really cool, laid back, acoustic in-store performance at Hot Topic in Monterey, Ca. Big thanks to everyone who came out to watch. Without you this could have been very, very awkward. :)

Setlist for November 6, 2009 - Hot Topic In-store Performance, Monterey, Ca

1. Mistakes!

2. Halloween

3. The Psychologist

4. Across the Water

5. The Regular G (Days Away Cover)

6. These Inevitable Insanities

7. Dog Problems (The Format Cover)

Nick's Blog #017: My 50 Favorite Albums of the Decade, Pt. 4

This is the fourth in a series of five posts. The other posts in this series have been archived due to them being too long for the front page of the website. All of the posts can be found using the links below:

(Albums 50 - 41) --- (Albums 40 - 31) --- (Albums 30 - 21) --- (Albums 20 - 11) --- (Albums 10 - 1)

From the original post: I was browsing the internet the other day and came across an article that was titled "Best (so-and-so's) of the Decade". I realized that, as crazy as it seems, with this coming New Years the 00's decade was coming to a close! Well every year me and Easton like to write a little blog naming our favorite 10 albums of that year. So I thought why not throw together a list of my favorite and most influential (on me!) albums of the past 10 years! Narrowing my favorite albums from the past 10 years down to just 10 albums was ridiculously hard, so I decided to expand the number to 50. So in 5 parts, I'm going to try and list the top 50 albums that have been my personal favorites and have influenced my music the most that were released in the past decade (2000 - 2009).

I personally love reading these types of lists because whenever I do I tend to find really awesome music. So hopefully by checking out my personal favs you will find something that you love that maybe you haven't had the chance to check out yet! With each album I'll throw in a stream from grooveshark.com of a song that I think is particularly interesting. As well as some quick notes from me telling why I like each album so much.

Here are albums 20 - 11 I chose for my list:


Favorite Albums of the 00's
(Albums 20 - 11)

20. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Released on February 7th, 2006

More info at Last.fmIf you've never listened to Belle and Sebastian or The Life Pursuit expect to be fully addicted by the time this album is through. There's something about it that is infectious and there is undoubtedly a great amount of influence on the early Dreamer and the Sleeper songs. I think this album can officially be dubbed the happiest sounding album on this list. Definitely give this one a listen!

19. Matchbox Twenty - More Than You Think You Are
Released on November 19th, 2002

More info at Last.fmOkay, so... there is definitely some songs on this album that some people may find... hmm, what's the word I'm looking for here... annoying, I think is a good way to put it. I mean, lets be frank, did any of us really need to hear Rob Thomas crooning "you left a sh-tain!" every half hour on the radio for a year straight? No, no we didn't. But with the song 'Disease' set aside this album is an incredible collection of epic sounding, pop-rock songs. Bright Lights, Hand Me Down, The Difference... There is so many really good, slower tempo-ed songs on this album it's sick. As I think I said with the first Matchbox Twenty album on this list, it's not the songs you hear on the radio that carry this album. It's everything in-between that really makes this a great pop-rock album.

18. Third Eye Blind - Out of the Vein
Released on May 20th, 2003

More info at Last.fmAlright, so if you know us at all you know that we are huge fans of Third Eye Blind. I'm sure there are some people who are thinking "ew" because of the impression they have gotten from certain Third Eye Blind radio singles. Third Eye Blind is fucking good. If you don't think so then I will fight you in a dark alley. Mmmm-okay so not really... but this album is disgustingly underrated, along with the rest of 3eb's catalogue.

17. Boys Night Out - Trainwreck
Released on July 26th, 2005

More info at Last.fmI'm really not sure how widely listened to this album is. I was sort of a quasi-listener of Boys Night Out before this album was released. Make Yourself Sick was a fun album to listen too but when the concept album Trainwreck was released it bumped Boys Night Out up a few rungs in my book. It's an amazing rock album that tells the story of a man who, during a crazy nightmare induced rage, accidentally murders his wife. Heavy? Yes. But putting the lyrical content and concept story aside the songs are super catchy pop/rock songs that will stick in your head for days. This is a great album that I highly recommend especially for a road trip or sometime when you can focus on the story that is told, because it also makes for a pretty interesting listen.

16. Cartel - Cartel
Released on August 21st, 2007

Listen at Last.fmThis album got an amazing amount of hate from fans of the band. Yes, it was recorded in a Dr. Pepper inspired bubble somewhere. Yes, it was all broadcast on "Mtv 5". Yes, it has been consistently labeled as a "huge let down" on message boards everywhere. But I cannot dislike this album. In fact I love it. I lived in San Diego for about 18 months right about the time this album came out and this disc wasn't far from my car stereo the entire time I was there. I'm really not certain how I feel about Cartel as a band. The Ransom EP was great, I could never fully get into Chroma (which if my memory serves me correct was loved by most fans of the band), and the new album Cycles just hasn't done it for me yet. Anyways, I guess my advice would be: if you have enjoyed most of the albums so far on this list, you may have similar taste to me. In this case definitely check this album out.

15. The Early November - For All of This EP
Released on November 5th, 2002

Listen at Last.fmWhen this album came out I was a freshman in college. At the time it was something completely new for me. I had listened to New Found Glory, Fenix TX, and Blink 182 consistently in high school and even though there was a lot of similarities to these bands, The Early November brought something new. Even now when I listen to this album there is something really genuine about it. It isn't ultra-polished, which was the direction that pop-punk style music had gone at that time. To me this is just a really honest album that doesn't try to be anything it's not, and I loved it for that.

14. Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American
Released on July 24th, 2001

Listen at Last.fmI really didn't know what a huge Jimmy Eat World fan I was until I started going through my CD collection to put together this list. As with the album above, this album (although very polished itself) brought something new to the table. Something completely different than what I had been listening to.

13. New Found Glory - Sticks and Stones
Released on June 11th, 2002

Listen at Last.fmSo with the last few albums on this list you have heard me say stuff like "something different". This album, along with a few others, weren't exactly something different. They were the norm. The standard. A great pop-punk album by one of my favorite bands of all time.

12. Coldplay - Parachutes
Released on November 7th, 2000

Listen at Last.fmI really didn't start listening to this album until well after it was released. Yellow was all of the radio in high school, kids were obsessed with the song Spies in my college dorm, and Sparks had a standout spot in the movie Wedding Crashers. Once I finally realized that all of these great songs came from the same album I was hooked. From first song to last, this album is fantastic.

11. Taking Back Sunday - Tell All Your Friends
Released on March 26th, 2002

Listen at Last.fmI first heard this album blasting out the window of some kids dorm room while I was on an absolutely brutal walk of shame during my freshman year of college. I walked back to my dorm room, searched the lyrics online, illegally downloaded the album as any good college student would, and listened to it while taking a long, scalding hot shower. Those were the days.

Continue to Albums 10 - 1 >

Nick's Blog #016: My 50 Favorite Albums of the Decade, Pt. 3

This is the third in a series of five posts. The other posts in this series have been archived due to them being too long for the front page of the website. All of the posts can be found using the links below:

(Albums 50 - 41) --- (Albums 40 - 31) --- (Albums 30 - 21) --- (Albums 20 - 11) --- (Albums 10 - 1)

From the original post: I was browsing the internet the other day and came across an article that was titled "Best (so-and-so's) of the Decade". I realized that, as crazy as it seems, with this coming New Years the 00's decade was coming to a close! Well every year me and Easton like to write a little blog naming our favorite 10 albums of that year. So I thought why not throw together a list of my favorite and most influential (on me!) albums of the past 10 years! Narrowing my favorite albums from the past 10 years down to just 10 albums was ridiculously hard, so I decided to expand the number to 50. So in 5 parts, I'm going to try and list the top 50 albums that have been my personal favorites and have influenced my music the most that were released in the past decade (2000 - 2009).

I personally love reading these types of lists because whenever I do I tend to find really awesome music. So hopefully by checking out my personal favs you will find something that you love that maybe you haven't had the chance to check out yet! With each album I'll throw in a stream from grooveshark.com of a song that I think is particularly interesting. As well as some quick notes from me telling why I like each album so much.

Here are albums 30 - 21 I chose for my list:


Favorite Albums of the 00's
(Albums 30 - 21)

30. The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Released on October 21st, 2003

More info at Last.fmI didn't catch wind of this album until waaaay after it was released. For years all I knew about The Shins was that they were mentioned in Garden State. Finally, when Wincing the Night Away came out Ray sent me some songs. Even then I didn't listen to this album much. But holy crap, when I finally discovered it's awesomeness I completely fell in love. This album contains what I think are the best lyrics of any album on this list. While writing lyrics for Autumn in the Evening I had this album very close by, referring to it more than once inspiration.

29. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Released on January 23rd, 2007

Listen at Last.fmAs I said in the album above this: I sort of missed The Shins train... by like 5 years. But this was the first album that I was introduced too. I'd say this one and Chutes Too Narrow are about dead even in my book. But this album has a couple songs that tip the scale for me. Australia, Red Rabbits, Turn on Me... talk about songs that I literally try to replicate sounds in while recording and mixing. If you are like me and are late in joining in on being Shin-ified, do yourself a favor and listen to these songs!

28. Eve 6 - It's All In Your Head
Released on July 22nd, 2003

Listen at Last.fmEve 6 is one of those bands that I love, but at the same time can totally understand why someone might find them completely obnoxious. The delivery of the lyrics for me is genius (and in this instance when I use the word "genius" I truly mean "genius") but I guess I can also see how someone might be put off by it. I think that because they had that one "her's 2 the nieeete" song all over the radio a while back, people may be afraid to really give this band a chance. Both me and Easton really have a weird obsession with this band's music. I can't really say for sure but I tend to see a lot of the bounciness and sheer poppyness of Eve 6's rhythms in a lot of Easton's songs. Go listen to the vocal patterns in Ashes Ashes and then check out the chorus of the song posted above. I think a lot of Easton's rhythm guitar playing style may have come from playing Eve 6 songs way back in the day, and Easton has an EXTREMELY distinct rhythm style when he writes. Again, that's not anything Easton has said, just an observation of mine! The song I chose to post from this album is the last song on the album and is an absolutely EPIC rock and roll song. When the chorus finally kicks in two and a half minutes in, it is like your a kid whose been waiting up all night for Christmas morning and when it finally comes you find that Santa brought you that sweet Huffy along with a stack of one-fucking-hundred dollar bills. It's THAT GOOD. Check it out.

27. The Postal Service - Give Up
Released on February 18th, 2003

More info at Last.fmOkay, so who's music do you NOT hear this album in these days? When this album came out bands all across the indie music scene started throwing in crazy electronic elements into their songs. What writes songs with glitchy, low-fi beats and has two thumbs? This guy. If you don't hear this albums influences on songs of ours like Seventy-six, This Glorious Pain, or Astronauts you may be a zombie. You may literally be a walking dead living among normal human beings.

26. Days Away - The Feel of It EP
Release date Unknown, 2002

More info at Last.fmEaston had bought this ep during our senior year of high school and I ended up listening to it a ton over the course of the next few years. It is a collection of five really catchy and fun pop songs. Days Away went on to drastically change their sound after this ep was released, and all of it was equally as good. But in the end it is this ep that I listen to the most. It is near impossible to find now-a-days and is not available on itunes but if you check out this grooveshark search you should be able to give it a listen.

25. Jack's Mannequin - Everything in Transit
Released on August 23rd, 2005

Listen at Last.fmThis album was basically the soundtrack to my final year of college at USC, which was also the year me and Easton formed The Dreamer and the Sleeper. The album had a great influence on a lot of our early songs, especially some of the piano based songs like Leaving the Hospital. It was basically the reason I sat down at a keyboard and decided that I would attempt to write a song on it even though I had never touched one before in my life.

24. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
Released on November 21st, 2006

Listen at Last.fmBrand New's album The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me isn't an album to listen to on lovely sunday morning, or too enjoy before a night out with friends. It's an album to listen to and be pissed off. It's super aggressive, the lyrical subject matter is heavy as all holy hell, and it is a LOUD album to say the least. Everyone needs an album to fight off their demons to.

23. Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me
Released on July 17th, 2007

Listen at Last.fmThis is one of those albums that gets better and better with time. With every listen a new chorus tends to pop out at you making that particular song your new favorite. Every song on this album is great. A fantastic follow up to one of my favorite albums ever: Commit This To Memory.

22. The Matches - Decomposer
Released on September 12st, 2006

More info at Last.fmTo say that this album is perfect would imply that I consider every album higher than it on this list to be better than perfect, which isn't necessarily the case. What this album does do that is perfect is stay consistent with a particular feeling and theme throughout. Even the album artwork tends to fit right into this little world The Matches have created that is Decomposer. If you listen to the song Sunburn vs. The Rhinovirus (posted above) you basically get a feel for what you can expect to find in every deep dark corner of this album. That's not to say that every song on the album sounds the same, in fact, this statement could not be further from the truth. But every song fits perfectly into the creepy, quirky theme of Decomposer.

21. The Elected - Sun, Sun, Sun
Released on January 24th, 2006

More info at Last.fmThe Elected put out an amazing album in 2006. For fans of Bright Eyes and Conor Oberest. Did I mention the dude was the bully on Boy Meets World? Not the fat one, the skinny one... yeah.

Continue to Albums 20 - 11 >

Nick's Blog #015: My 50 Favorite Albums of the Decade, Pt. 2

This is the second in a series of five posts. The other posts in this series have been archived due to them being too long for the front page of the website. All of the posts can be found using the links below:

(Albums 50 - 41) --- (Albums 40 - 31) --- (Albums 30 - 21) --- (Albums 20 - 11) --- (Albums 10 - 1)

From the original post: I was browsing the internet the other day and came across an article that was titled "Best (so-and-so's) of the Decade". I realized that, as crazy as it seems, with this coming New Years the 00's decade was coming to a close! Well every year me and Easton like to write a little blog naming our favorite 10 albums of that year. So I thought why not throw together a list of my favorite and most influential (on me!) albums of the past 10 years! Narrowing my favorite albums from the past 10 years down to just 10 albums was ridiculously hard, so I decided to expand the number to 50. So in 5 parts, I'm going to try and list the top 50 albums that have been my personal favorites and have influenced my music the most that were released in the past decade (2000 - 2009).

I personally love reading these types of lists because whenever I do I tend to find really awesome music. So hopefully by checking out my personal favs you will find something that you love that maybe you haven't had the chance to check out yet! With each album I'll throw in a stream from grooveshark.com of a song that I think is particularly interesting. As well as some quick notes from me telling why I like each album so much.

Here are albums 40 - 31 I chose for my list:


Favorite Albums of the 00's
(Albums 40 - 31)

40. Green Day - Warning
Released on October 2th, 2000

More info at Last.fmI'm not really sure how most Green Day fans feel about this album but personally, I would put it up there alongside Dookie and Insomniac as one of my favorites. I think I was about a sophomore in high school when this album came out. I had owned Dookie and Insomniac when I was in junior high but I was never terribly into music until around the time this disc came out. I enjoyed it at first but it wasn't until a year or two later when I really got into it. It was really my first exposure to acoustic guitars being used in this type of music. Up to this point I really only had interest in playing an electric guitar. Looking now at how much D&S utilizes the acoustic guitar I'd say this album had a big influence on me personally picking up an acoustic guitar and learning how to use it in my own music. Macy's Day Parade was sort of a personal anthem of mine in high school.

39. Fun. - Aim and Ignite
Released on August 25th, 2009

Listen at Last.fmOkay, first things first: This is an absolutely incredible album. The fact that it has only been out for a few months is the main reason that it found the 39th place on my list of favorites. Otherwise it most likely would have been much, much higher. If you haven't listened to this album yet do yourself a favor and pick it up NOW! All of us (me, Easton, and Ray) all completely love this album and it will undoubtedly play a heavy influence on whatever it is that we record next. Too many great songs to recommend just one. Just listen to the whole thing, you won't be dissapointed!

38. The Matches - A Band in Hope
Released on March 18th, 2008

Every once in a while I have these albums that don't really do it for me at first. Then D&S goes and records something and once it's all recorded and mixed I realize: wow, I must really like that album after all! This is one of those albums. Listening back now there are numerous elements and ideas in Autumn in the Evening that I either developed from listening to this album or subconsciously emulated during the mixing process. One of these songs is These Inevitable Insanities. I can remember finishing an early mix of that song and thinking that it was really kind of a strange sound for us and I wasn't really sure where it came from. Until I listened to this album a few days later. For whatever reason a bunch of elements from this album found it's way into the formation of Insanites. Since then I have had a new found respect for A Band in Hope.

37. Valencia - We All Need A Reason To Believe
Released on August 26th, 2008

Listen at Last.fmAs a artist I often find myself becoming a bit disappointed with my own ability to listen to music without constantly comparing and applying it to the music that we are currently working on. I find it hard to enjoy an album without focusing on how I could take those sounds and somehow apply it to our songs. I'm not really sure why but since this album's release it has always been one that I can just listen to and enjoy. Every song on this album is great.

36. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Released on January 24th, 2005

Listen at Last.fmWhen this album was released I became obsessed with Digital Ash in a Digital Urn (this albums "sister album" which was released by Bright Eyes on the same day). As time went on I started to find song after song on this album that completely won me over. A lot of the songs on this album are, on first listen, a bit slow moving and drab. But as you listen more and more you find that almost every song has this really powerful moment that acts as sort of a pay off and makes the slooooow build of the first half even more incredible. Listen to the song Poison Oak that I posted above and you will see what I mean.

35. Matchbox Twenty - Mad Season
Released on May 23th, 2000

Listen at Last.fmThis one may be a surprise to some of you. In fact, this band has always been one for my favorites. This is an album with a bunch of great songs that I listened to a TON in high school. Also this album came out before illegal downloading and iTunes so I actually have a memory of going to the record store and buying it on the day it came out, something I can't say for a lot of other albums on this list. If you haven't ever given Matchbox Twenty a fair chance I would listen to this album as it didn't have as many overplayed radio singles as some of the others. I lump them into a group with Third Eye Blind and Better Than Ezra as bands that lead me to want to start playing music in high school. Also in certain lighting I have been said to resemble one, Rob Thomas. Personally I don't really see it :)

34. Rx Bandits - Progress
Released on July 17th, 2001

Listen at Last.fmWhen I think about my senior year of high school, and cruising around town with my homie Matty Fhel this is the only cd I think of. We would listen to this album every time we got in the car for a good 4 or 5 months. At that point I had never heard anything like the tunes on this album and to this day I am blown away by the musicianship displayed on this album.

33. Coldplay - Viva la Vida or Death and All of His Friends
Released on June 12th, 2008

Listen at Last.fmBesides the fact that we all had to hear Viva la Vida "thump-thumping" on the radio for like 9 months straight, this album seemingly can do no wrong. The production on this album absolutely blew me away when I first listened to it. Coldplay, a band whose sound I had always enjoyed, had been completely reinvented with the infusion of producer Brian Eno. If you haven't already made the comparison yourself, this album strongly influenced the sound of our record Autumn in the Evening. (see: Across the Water)

32. Fenix TX - Lechuza
Released on March 21st, 2001

Listen at Last.fmSimply put, one of the best, straight up pop-punk albums of the late 90's early 00's era. Way before we were ever a band, Easton and I were jamming these songs on shitty guitars and amplifiers in my room. Ray and I got the chance to see them play most of these songs about 2 years ago (a good 4 or 5 years after they had broken up) at a tiny bar in Carlsbad, Ca. It was one of the most memorable shows I have ever been too. Awesome band, awesome album. What is amazing is that I can see how some of our listeners may be too young to know about this band or this album. If this is you: Step 1. Listen. Step 2. Repeat step 1.

31. Allister - Last Stop Suburbia
Released on October 1st, 2002

Listen at Last.fmThis album literally taught me how to play guitar. My freshman year of college I missed many a class sitting in my dorm room playing these songs over and over. Okay, so maybe this album won't be remembered by many as a classic but it is super fun to listen, play and sing along too.

Continue to Albums 30 to 21 >

Nick's Blog #013: My 50 Favorite Albums of the Decade

This is the first in a series of five posts. The other posts in this series have been archived due to them being too long for the front page of the website. All of the posts can be found using the links below:

(Albums 50 - 41) --- (Albums 40 - 31) --- (Albums 30 - 21) --- (Albums 20 - 11) --- (Albums 10 - 1)

From the original post: I was browsing the internet the other day and came across an article that was titled "Best (so-and-so's) of the Decade". I realized that, as crazy as it seems, with this coming New Years the 00's decade was coming to a close! Well every year me and Easton like to write a little blog naming our favorite 10 albums of that year. So I thought why not throw together a list of my favorite and most influential (on me!) albums of the past 10 years! Narrowing my favorite albums from the past 10 years down to just 10 albums was ridiculously hard, so I decided to expand the number to 50. So in 5 parts, I'm going to try and list the top 50 albums that have been my personal favorites and have influenced my music the most that were released in the past decade (2000 - 2009).

I personally love reading these types of lists because whenever I do I tend to find really awesome music. So hopefully by checking out my personal favs you will find something that you love that maybe you haven't had the chance to check out yet! With each album I'll throw in a stream from grooveshark.com of a song that I think is particularly interesting. As well as some quick notes from me telling why I like each album so much.

Here are the first ten albums I chose for my list:


Favorite Albums of the 00's
(Albums 50 - 41)

50. Death Cab For Cutie - The Photo Album
Released on October 9th, 2001

More info at Last.fmThis was actually the second Death Cab For Cutie album I was exposed to after checking out Transatlanticism when it came out. All of Death Cab's albums since this one have been great but this one in particular sticks out in my eyes.

49. Jack Johnson - Brushfire Fairytales
Released on January 20th, 2002

Listen at Last.fmI have a ton of great memories listening to this album with all of my best friends from high school during our senior year. Also the majority of this album is featured in one of our favorite movies 'Out Cold'. In turn I have done a ton of drinking to this album. Bull Mountain! Don't go changin'!

48. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue
Released on July 7th, 2003

Listen at Last.fmAt the time that this album was released Easton, Ray and I were all in a crappy pop-punk band called Bull Mountain. When this album came out it was a HUGE deal for us! This was exactly the type of music we wanted to make so needless to say we studied this album track by track like it was our job. I never really enjoyed anything from this band after this but for the year that this one came out I listened and played along to it almost non-stop.

47. New Found Glory - Catalyst
Released on June 18th, 2004

Listen at Last.fmAnother great pop punk album from the kings: New Found Glory. Catalyst is full of awesome, fast pop punk tunes. This album was in my cd player all summer long in 2004.

46. Sherwood - A Different Light
Released on March 13th, 2007

Listen at Last.fmThis band knows how to write fantastic pop songs. I think a lot of elements from this album seeped through onto our album Fireworks as I was listening to this album a ton while finishing up the mixing process. I love the use of electric pianos and organs throughout this album. I'm sure everyone has seen them plastered all over myspace but if you haven't checked out this band, and you enjoy our band, you will probably love it!

45. Slightly Stoopid - Everything You Need
Released on March 18th, 2003

Listen at Last.fmIf you have ever been to a BBQ in San Diego you know that there is only one band acceptable to blast on the stereo. That band is Sublime... But if nobody has any Sublime, well, you listen to Slightly Stoopid. This is absolutely the only album I listen too if the temperature outside is above 75 degrees. If you are fan of Summer Time, BBQ's, Beer, Weed or even better All of the Above you will love this album.

44. Blink 182 - Blink 182
Released on November 18th, 2003

Listen at Last.fmI think I had the same reaction as most after listening to this album for the first time: "Huh?" and then maybe a "Wait... there are no cock and balls jokes?". But after the shock of the new Blink 182 set in there was much awesomeness to be heard! It was a sad day when about a year later they split, but a fantastic day this past winter when they announced they were back. Long live Blink.

43. Fall Out Boy - Take This to Your Grave
Released on June 6th, 2003

Listen at Last.fmIt is insane to think that when I went out to buy this CD way back in 2003 I had no idea who Fall Out Boy was, no idea who this super-douche Pete Wentz was, but I had heard some samples of the album online and decided to give it a listen. It was awesome.

42. Angels & Airwaves - We Don't Need to Whisper
Released on June 23rd, 2006

Listen at Last.fmTons of delay gets me hot.

41. Cartel - The Ransom EP
Released on November 16th, 2004

Listen at Last.fmThis is a fantastic group of 6 or 7 songs from the band Cartel. I must have listened to this EP one hundred times in the first month after it came out. Every song on it is great. I think the fact that I was a HUGE fan of this EP set the bar too high for Cartel because I could barely listen to Chroma, the album they released after this EP.

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