Moose Blood – “Knuckles” • Page 2

What? Dude, listen to "Me, You, and My Medication" and tell me they weren't emo pop. In fact, when Moose Blood came around, the first thing I said was that I was glad someone was exploring the BLG sound again. I mean, I get that MB is a lot closer to the original '90s sound, but if we're not being emo elitists here than BLG was the most emo pop of all the bands that were fusing pop punk and emo back in the mid to late '00s (FOB, Paramore, The Academy is..., etc.). There was certainly nothing punk about them.

 

The range of comparisons that Moose Blood are getting are extraordinary. Who cares. Just listen. Like it or don't.

 

i said this elsewhere, this band literally sounds exactly like sparks the rescue or go radio now

 

I see nothing wrong with comparing eras of music on a forum literally dedicated to talking about music. And my opinion on similarities in sound had nothing to do with my opinion on the actual song (which I think is passable at best).

 

I don't hear any emo influence on anything by BLG, unless we're talking about "emo" as it was misused in the early-to-mid 2000s (remember, bands like My Chemical Romance and even Senses Fail were once described as "emo"). BLG was much closer to The Starting Line circa-Say It Like You Mean It or even We The Kings' first album (a.k.a. mid-to-late 2000s pop-punk) on their first album than anything anyone could remotely consider emo.

In any case, what Moose Blood is doing here is fusing modern emo revival with pop sensibilities, cutting out pretty much any punk elements they may have possessed (especially on this song). I don't know any other bands out there doing that right now. That said, if anyone else knows of any I'd love to know about them so I can listen to them myself.

 

Can't wait to finally see this guys live soon!

 

I agree that its not a bad thing, but I do wish they'd differentiate themselves a bit more. I really like this band, and they have their own unique thing. I just think literally having a square neon light is a little bit too much.

 

Both songs released are better than anything on their first album. I'm now excited for this.

 

was obsessed with their first EP, didn't really dig the first LP, but I'm really digging their new stuff. I was curious to see if they'd really embrace their pop/rock/emo side and get very radio-friendly, and it sounds like they have. which I'm definitely, albeit surprisingly, stoked on haha

 

Songs a jam. I don't know what everyone was expecting this sounds like Moose Blood.

 

I mean, you kind of ignored my whole comment about not being an "emo elitist" which was there to essentially say that yes, bands in the mid-2000s were playing pop punk but it was fused with elements of emo and I honestly think that while the '90s and the '00s were different eras of emo, they can both still be classified under the emo tag. Texas is the Reason isn't incredibly far away from a lot of Fall Out Boy (pre-hiatus). And that stuff was just a blend of pop, emo, and pop punk (not much emphasis on the punk).

Of course, genre arguments always devolve into nothingness but I think you can pretty clearly trace a sonic lineage between those bands up into modern stuff. We seem to be at an impasse - I do believe that Fall Out Boy, Boys Like Girls, and My Chemical Romance were influenced by emo and post-hardcore bands just as much as they were by pop punk bands (and classic rock in MCR's case).

As far as bands fusing emo and pop nowadays, there is Have Mercy and Somos and probably more. Moose Blood is certainly the most commercial of it all.

 

I didn't ignore your comment, I just don't agree that being accurate means being an "elitist." That's a kind of odd thing to say, no? "Disregarding the actual definition of something, let's just consider what I'd rather it mean and anyone who doesn't is snooty."

And yeah we must just have different ears or something. Fall Out Boy's pre-hiatus highly polished fusion of pop-punk with pop and groovier elements sounds literally nothing like the abrasive rawness of Texas Is the Reason to me. Boys Like Girls and We The Kings might as well have been the same band to me, they even had similar career trajectories. I don't see any major scene band from the early-to-late 2000s that carried the emo torch in the same way bands like MoBo, Moose Blood (pre-Blush, now), Tiny Moving Parts, Have Mercy, The Hotelier, The World Is A Beautiful Place..., and Dowsing are now. Also, to me, Have Mercy and Somos are nowhere near as poppy as this Moose Blood album is shaping up to be. I mean these two songs have hooks so saccharine I'm liable to need a tooth pulled.

 

Great song. Both songs have been great.