All right, ladies and gentlemen, start warming up those flat-irons and caking on that MAC makeup right now, because it’s just about time to pile into the back of your mom’s SUV, pick up the rest of your giggling friends, and make way to the hottest event since the homecoming formal!
No, it’s not a sidewalk sale at Hot Topic. It’s Taking Back Sunday! That’s right, kids — on Wednesday, December 2, Long Island’s emo-now-that-emo-doesn’t-mean-what-it-used-to-and-has-instead-become-co-opted-by-
MTV-and-turned-into-the-same-dull-pop-music-that-was-already-all-over-the-radio-just-now-with-tighter-pants-and-dumber-hairstyles-
I-mean-come-on-doesn’t-anyone-listen-to-Jawbreaker-or-Braid-or-Rites-of-Spring-anymore sensation are back on tour and headed to Sunset Station in support of New Again, their latest record in an already storied career. Teamed with new guitarist Matt Fazzi, the band finds themselves freshly rejuvenated after their longest hiatus yet, and, with a new record already flying off the shelves at Best Buys and Targets all across our great nation, they are left with literally no choice (according to their record-label contracts) but to strap on their guitars, apply just enough sexy eyeliner to be hip (but not gay, bro), and march onstage to rock the tears right out of America’s suburban teenage youth.
But don’t expect only the wistful and angsty emo-pop you’ve come to love (or at least know) them for. New Again finds Taking Back Sunday all growed up and ready to begin their inevitable delve into the world of musical experimentation. “It’s clearly a growth to what we’ve done in the past,” vocalist Adam Lazarra told MTV News. “Experimenting ... a lot of different instruments, horns, glockenspiels — there’s a flautist on the record.” A flautist, eh? Sounds like a rockin’ good time, Adam. If we’re lucky, their live performance may even be accompanied by a be-cloaked dwarf, flute in hand, prancing around a tiny Stonehenge (I’m sorry, that might be too old a reference for TBS’s fan base — just pretend I said iPhone).
Yes, it seems Taking Back Sunday have come a long way, baby, from their humble beginnings as pioneers of that entirely watered-down MTV-ready post-emo that pounded the final nail into the coffin of regular-emo’s already shaky reputation. We can also thank them for jumping on (and subsequently somewhat popularizing) the bandwagon of bands whose names were almost complete sentences, lighting the path for the ascents of Funeral for a Friend, Death Cab for Cutie, From Autumn to Ashes, and a few dozen other bands that, despite their aural shortcomings, prove quite favorable indeed to music journalists who get paid by the word.
Joining them on stage are radio rock contemporaries the All-American Rejects and Christian (shh, don’t tell their fans) alt-rockers Anberlin.
Plus, for real, you guys, I totally just got a text from Tiffany, and, like, her and Tyler are totally fighting, and, like, she was totally flirting with Josh in homeroom, but now she’s going to the show with Tyler but Josh is gonna be there too, and OMG the drama. •
