It can be difficult to get nostalgic about 90s hardcore. And not just because the music is incredibly shitty– it’s hard to even find documentation of most of that stuff since, well, the internet didn’t exist. Fortunately that is definitely not the case with the music of the late 2000s, which is just now getting old enough for people in their early-mid 20s to get nostalgic about. As the internet’s premiere scene historian, this means that SYWH is about to go from being passe and irrelevant to cutting edge again!
In this installment of the ‘scene time capsule,’ let’s take a look at this video from 2009 called “Top 20 songs that emo/scene kids know.” 2009 seems like it was just yesterday, but if you think about it a lot has changed since then. A kid who was 17 then is 22 now, and the tr00bonic plague has made neon, swoopy hair and synth leads all but extinct.
When I look at this video, I basically see three categories of bands represented: those that fell off/fizzled out, those that blew up, and a handful that just kinda stayed in the same place they were in 2009.
BANDS THAT KINDA FIZZLED/FELL OFF
- #18 We The Kings “Check Yes Juliet”
I totally thought this band was gonna be mainstream popular– the anthem for those girls who are like 85% mainstream Hollister girls, but like 15% Journeys-style alternative (ie, Fall Out Boy is “their favorite band” but they only know the singles) aka THE PERFECT KIND OF GIRL. - #13 Toki Hotel “Ready Set Go”
Remember when this band tried to get popular in the US and completely flopped? Also, who else thought the singer was a cute scene girl at first? - #7 Boys Like Girls “The Great Escape”
This song is OK but I prefer their more neon material (where they got Sam N Sluggo to write all their good songs) - #10 The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus “Face Down”
Really thought this band had potential to be a Cobra Starship/Plain White Ts kind of crossover thing, but they fell off like whoa. Apparently they are still a band, with 1.5m Facebook fans, but - #9 Bullet For My Valentine “Tears Don’t Fall”
Love the “Famous Stars & Straps tee with bootcut jeans, cowboy belt buckle, and Draven shoes” look!!! Hits me right in the VampireFreaks feels. - #19 Story Of The Year “Anthem Of Our Dying Day”
This band is actually really good and I feel like they deserve more love than they get these days. If I recall correctly, at least a couple of them are hardcore kids too.
BANDS THAT BLEW UP
- #20 ADTR “Downfall Of Us All”
Pretty funny that this was #20, but in all fairness nobody in 2009 would have predicted they’d turn into a Billboard top 10 rock band. Also, I forgot how fucking awesome this song is. What a banger. - #12 Escape The Fate “Situations”
Would NEVER have guessed that ETF *and* Ronnie Radke would still be huge in 2014, but here we are! Still a staple of the “slightly white trash girls with tons of facial piercings and GEDs who grew up in broken homes” demographic. - #2 Paramore “Misery Business”
Also surprised that this band ended up sticking around. Props to my boy David Bendeth for reinvigorating his career as a hitmaker with this one– he is also the producer behind the albums that put ASKING ALEXANDRIA, BMTH and OF MICE & MEN on the map as legit mainstream rock bands.
BANDS THAT JUST KINDA STAYED IN THE SAME PLACE
- #6 Panic At The Disco “I Write Sins Not Tragedies”
Mind = blown that PATD is still kind of a huge band in 2014 (they have 6 million fb fans wtf) even though it’s basically just “the Brandon Urie show” now. Just goes to show the power of putting a cute guy on stage with a guitar! - #15 Saosin “You’re Not Alone”
#14 From First To Last “Note To Self”
#11 Underoath “Writing On The Walls”
#8 Taking Back Sunday “Make Damn Sure”
#4 30 Seconds To Mars “The Kill”
#3 Hawthorne Heights “Ohio Is For Lovers”
#1 MCR “Black Parade”
Pretty much the who’s-who of “seminal mid-00s scene bands.” Can’t wait until the Myspace generation has kids who are old enough to use the internet so their parents can post braggy statuses like “Kaige is only 4 but he already has great taste in music– this morning he put on his mom’s To Write Love On Her Arms hoodie and started singing along to BREATHE CAROLINA!!!!”
