Circa Survive Band • Page 111

Semi Constructive Criticism into Kicking Your Crosses Down might be my favorite 1-2 punch in their discog.

 

yes i agree!!! god that is my favorite part of olg

 

RE: the word “formulaic” is broad

its a matter of simple discussion. structuring is one thing. instrumentation is another.

years ago I had a simple but wordy explanation of what circa sounded like - if you took the best post rock band youve ever heard and had them write off kilter but psuedo traditionally structured songs. fronted by the guy who arguably created the emo vocal style.

 

I think a lot of people would take issue with "emo" in your statement. Progressive post-hardcore, yes.

 

Wish they would have kept the vocal effect on Frozen Creek.

 

ok i buy that. i think Ant created second wave post hardcore.

 

or just the dreamier guitar effect starting at 2mins

 

that youtube vid of Frozen Creek is the only Frozen Creek I listen to now

 

circa survive is inarguably an emo band I don’t know anyone who would disagree with that

 

If they are played at an emo night or have played Warped Tour, they are fuckin' emo

Those are the new rules, sorry

 

Katy Perry is officially emo

 

I played both OLG and BSN today, they're both good, those are my hot takes

 

Yes

Also yes

 

Calm down, I was saying some people would have a problem saying Anthony "created the emo vocal style" not that they aren't emo.

 

BSN Song Rankings after my re-listen.

Def prefer Side B

Fever Dreams
Compendium / Dyed in the Wool
Frozen Creek
Through the Desert
Glass Arrows
The Longest mile
Spirit
Get Out
Strange
imaginary enemy
I felt free

Takeaway this album is better than I give it credit for. But is still prob tied at the bottom with VW.

 

at the bottom

 

i know, i know....nothings going to change

 

the longest mile is underrated and i never understood why

 

The Longest Mile is tight, especially that bridge and pre-chorus to the final chorus

 

an absolutely spectacular song in every sense of the word

 

BSN was the first album cycle of theirs i was a fan for, i had discovered OLG and juturna in the fall of 2009 and became a huge fan after years of indifference. it was an exciting time and the album exceeded the expectations i had for it, and the appendage EP just added to that as Lazarus stands to this day as one of the most impactful songs of my teenage years lol. the amount of times i felt emo af at 2/6 a.m. singing those bridge lyrics to myself.....lol

 

i think the sequence videos hype train leading up to BSN is part of why I was let down by the evtual final product at the time. It seemed like it was going to be an evolution of everything I had lached onto at that point, and it just...didn't live up to it for me. It was actually a huge lesson in expectation management. I was in senoir year of high school when BSN came out and it was just a weird time of transition for me. I can talk about it's over-crispy production and corny lyrics/choruses all day, but maybe I'm just ultimately trying to describe a larger, more mysterious phenomenon: the demystification of something unhealthily anticipated.

EVery album cycle and abum drop since then has been a blast and I find myself nearly instantly in love with their releases since BSN so I think, for me, BSN is deeply entangled with a strange nostalgic tunnel vision I have of the first 2 records and fear of change and watering-down of something I held to be sacred.

Compendium is fucking tight going right into Dyed as a closer.

 

i sort of had the opposite experience, i was 17 and a junior in high school but obviously my love for the album bled into my senior year especially with appendage releasing after i turned 18 too, and seeing them live for the first time that year as well. but my expectations were pretty fucking high and i think they obliterated them. i also didnt find any of the lyrics corny whatsoever and thought they were largely really profound and personal and approachable in a way they werent on juturna and on letting go, which are completely inscrutable at times.

compendium/dyed in the wool is likely my number 2 behind the amulet as far as their closers go, with your friends are gone right up there as well.

 

I will also say that nothing lately is more fun to my old ass than talking about circa on here lol. This band is something else. I can't even understand what being a casual fan would be like. I feel emotionally tethered and infinitely opinionated.

 

i think we as human do tend to love the shit we loved during our formative years forever and ever and thats why theres such a cash grab in the nostalgia industry, whether its 10 year tours (no offense circa), movie/tv franchise reboots, whatever the case may be its no secret theres money to be made by appealing to people's adolescent years. what separates circa, and a handful of other bands as well, is that i feel just as excited by their new material and feel an emotional connection to it that rivals the connection i felt at 17 or 18 listening to this band. its different, of course, because im nearly 30 now and it will never be the same, but for me its just as impactful it just takes on a different shape.