ain't it funny, now we can see we're who we're meant to be
On revisiting old interests while letting go of embarrassment and my favorite band in 2011 + 2012, Sleeping With Sirens.
I just got home from buying a skateboard. It was the last one in my price range so I'll take that as a sign (or maybe it's one that I should give my impulsive buys a second thought but who's to say.)
The last time I tried to learn how to skateboard was 2016. A girl I was friends with always carried two boards in the messy backseat of her beige car. One day I asked her if she could teach me so she did. With me on one board and her on the other, she held my hands and guided me around corners at the local park. I fell. Hard. Both for her and off the board.
But that's beside the point. Lately, I've revisiting a lot of things, like personal, long form writing. It feels nice. Like skating, I, for a while, thought it was something I'd never do again.
The other thing I’ve been doing again is revisiting old bands and albums I used to love. The Ready Set. Never Shout Never. The Summer Set (A Love Like This, specifically). I don’t keep my Spotify account set to private while doing so like I used to either. Most recently, it’s been Sleeping With Sirens (lots of three word bands names here, huh?) They were another band I was introduced to secondhand through a crush and grew to love on my own (looking back, I don’t think I ever had an actual conversation with that crush anyway, we were just Facebook friends).
The first time I saw SWS live was in 2012 at a now-closed venue that was too big for the show in Gainesville with headlined by Attack Attack with support from The Ghost Inside and Dream On, Dreamer. It was the second show I ever went to and the first I went to with my dad. My friend Sage and her dad came with us. Both of our dads sat at the bar with their backs to the music while we watched the show. I saw SWS again in 2013 at Warped Tour in either Orlando or St. Pete. My dad came with me and after suffering through the Florida heat of Warped 2012, he made my sister came with us even though she didn’t care for any of the bands playing. She brought up that memory recently, she’s still mad at me for making her come with us, I don’t blame her.
By 2013, the record Feel came out and I can’t tell you a thing about it. I guess I probably listened to the singles and didn’t connect. Some bands lose me like that. Maybe that’s why I can’t recall a single thing about 2014. I no longer had a band that held the Favorite Band title which now serves as a marker of my previous interests. Maybe I’ll listen to it after this and realize I like it. That’s been happening to me a lot with old, passed over records lately.
“Remember when they said that what we want can never be done
When it all comes falling down
We'll do what we want to
Said we'll do what we want to”
Let’s be real. This record has a song for every mood. Still thinking about your parent’s divorce? Got a new blossoming crush whose attention you really want? Want to prove people who doubt you wrong? Reflecting on said crush after the summer’s come to pass? It’s all there. There isn’t much metaphor to this record, like the songs, they’re all pretty straightforward while still having an impact. It’s catchy and full of hooks while walking the line of what used to be Tumblr’s favorite genre, post-hardcore. I can’t claim to know anything about genres but I’d say it’s more of a pop record by a rock band with some heavier elements at times from it’s melodic guitars and unclean vocals. It holds up. I stand by it.
This past month has felt like reliving that past but without the secrecy or embarrassment. Liking things is cool. And good for you. All of these old albums are going to keep holding the top spots in my Friday 5X5. By now, so much time has passed that I’m letting go of old associations and memories with them and replacing them with how I currently feel. Like Quinn said in 2011, sometimes you need to “cheers to triumph, hard times, success, and to life itself .”
I am a Big Music Fan and excessive playlister. If you want to throw any funds my way, they’ll be donated to the Nashville Free Store (open every Saturday from 12pm-6pm CT) & Nashville Community Fridge (always open & regularly stocked) located at Drkmttr (the city’s only all-ages venue) here in, you guessed it, Nashville.