The Starting Line Band • Page 106

I will be waiting & ready!

 

I was looking through the comments on a couple of their most recent IG posts to see if they’d already answered a question that I had, and saw this on their WWWY retrospective post. Genuinely cannot tell if this is a bit - if not, then it is… very embarrassing lol.

 

The higher sucks

 

Always have. Massive tools.

 

Why is bashing Tom a thing at all? The drums on all of their albums are sick and every time I've seen them live, he's been fantastic.

 

This guy from The Higher seems like a complete dick.

This drum thing goes way back. I do recall the band addressing a legitimate issue with tempo during live performances way back when they were an active band. I know a session drummer played on at least Island, but I'm not sure if there are other tracks as well.

Tom has always seemed like a super cool, humble dude. Sure, he's not some kind of Travis Barker level player, but he's solid enough for the genre.

 

IIRC, they didn’t use a click in the early days and it was obvious in a bad way. But I feel like by the time BOATS came out he was using one. Does that sound right?

 

Just one example... Direction (the song) is such an immaculate album opener that perfectly sets the tone for the rest of that album, & the band from that moment on. The drums are so fucking important in that song

 

Yeah, Howard Benson brought in Kenny Aronoff without the band knowing the replace drums on "Are You Alone?" "Island" and "What You Want." Legendary player, and the songs are better for it.

 

Yes, unfortunately in the beginning of the band's run the live drumming was very bad, and noticable. He then started playing to a click track live and everything has been great since then

 

He’s clearly a great drummer, even if he was unpolished in the early days. The parts on Stay Where I Can See You, Way With Words, Cut! Print It, Saddest Girl Story, Somebody’s Gonna Miss Us, Artistic License, Autography, all really creative and difficult to pull off

 

Speaking of Direction (the song), does anyone know why it was removed from Spotify?

 

Lol - that’s what started this whole thing actually. Went to their Instagram to see if anyone had asked. Looks like it’s still on Apple Music for some reason but is missing from multiple other streaming services. I have not found an answer, but someone on Reddit started a thread about it a month ago, so I guess it’s been a while

 

Band sounded off both times in 2005 when I saw them. The theater show (Nintendo Fusion Tour) was more noticeable.

Seems like he’s just improved a whole lot since his tracks got re-recorded for Direction tracks. I think the band is tired of answering those questions though. They’re not likely to replace members.

 

They sounded good the 3 times I saw them 2005. *shrugs*

 

My wife noticed this a few weeks ago and emailed their management team. The response was “Oh good catch! We’ll be working to fix this asap!”.

Maybe it was just overlooked?

 

The Higher talking shit to anyone in 2024 is genuinely laugh out loud funny

 

Nintendo Fusion is specifically where I remember them sounding the worst

 

I only saw them once in 2005 and don’t remember them sounding bad, but it felt jarringly slow with the click in comparison to the way they’d been playing at like minimum 1.5x speed. That was also about when they said fuck everything and just started opening shows with Best Of Me - imagine spirits weren’t too high in general

 

I'm sure this is still a thing and I just don't keep up, but looking back at tours back then is so funny.

What do you mean pop punk and screamo bands are on the Honda Civic and Nintendo Fusion tours?

 

Don’t forget the Gerber Screaming Is For Babies tour

 

I like a grand total of one of their albums and it’s Histrionics. That’s it.

 

Oddly enough, I saw them on that tour in Anaheim and TSL cut their set short because Tom split his hand wide open on his kit when his stick split.

 

That's one more than most people.

 

I liked 2-3 tracks off The Higher’s “On Fire” but that’s pretty much it lol

Anyways, I don’t think Tom is a stellar drummer but I don’t think he’s terrible either ¯\_(ツ)_/¯