Top 5 MySpace Bands We Miss: Part 2
MySpace had a chock-full of great music. Ever since the demise of the original format, it's left a hole that the social media of today can't seem to quite fit. Those that remember it fondly know exactly what I'm speaking about, but aside from the site turning into a cold hollow shell of its former self, it brought to light some greatest musical acts that still bring tears to our eyes. Here are five more bands that we miss desperately with all of our hearts.
5. Sky Eats Airplane
The Texas-based band was ahead of the curve when it came to blending a stalwart mix of metalcore, electronic samples, and synthy riffs- it created a peanut butter and chocolate mix that would soon saturate the scene. "Giants In The Ocean" was a song seen on many profiles and wasn't unusual to see them in anyone's top 8. The band enjoyed moderate success despite having been plagued with line up changes. Their popular frontman replacement Jerry Roush brought something different to the band and was notorious for his outspoken demeanor.
The band would release several eps and a full length, join Warped Tour and collect a devout following. Sky Eats Airplane was then signed to Equal Visions. Sadly it wasn't enough to keep the wheels spinning as the band folded in late 2012 after constant line up changes, departures, and switches that didn't stick. At least they gave us a cover of Limp Bizkit's "Nookie" before they left, right? People to this day remember them fondly and we can always hope for a reunion, but with the amount of line up changes, it's hard to say what variation we would get, unfortunately.
4. PlayRadioPlay!
Can't mention SEA without their fellow Texas native, PlayRadioPlay! The band was riding the genre void Postal Service left before Owl City gave us a watery version of it years later. This is probably one of the most depressing stories to come out of this list. PRP! was a vividly popular band, creating what Dan Hunter called "Stadium Lo-Fi". His songs were oxymorons, light pop bubbly blips and bloops filled with lyrical content referencing innocent stuff like "If I'm A Pirate You're A Princess" mixed with his experiences in rehab.
The one-man project was infectious with its work "Decipher Reflections From Reality" a mainstay on myspace profiles. Alas, PlayRadioPlay! managed to get picked up by a major label, which took the bedroom project to the mainstream. The success didn't hit the way the labels wanted it to. Dan then wrote in a blog about how horrible the experiences were and how they mangled his projects sound for wider appeal, describing his time with Island Records as a "Nightmare." A few years later, a disenfranchised Dan Hunter renamed the project "Analog Rebellion" citing the name PlayRadioPlay! no longer reflected the music he made. The project has been quiet since its release back in 2014. "Maybe" a popular song named after Madi leaving Dan IRL, was one of many to finally put the nail in the coffin for the project.
3. The Academy Is…
Ahhh, The Academy Is… possibly one of the brightest beacons that could've been signed to Fueled By Ramen that's no longer with us. The band had everything it took to succeed, from the lead singer to make the ladies swoon to a catchy as hell instrumental section backed by equally catchy lyrics. It remains a wonder why the band went into the lands of indefinite hiatus in 2011. "Slow Down" and "The Phrase That Pays" were songs that found themselves on every pop-loving MySpace profile as the band soared to sights unseen by the aforementioned bands. They saw chart success with each release.
Unfortunately after the incredibly mature polished sounds of Fast Times At Barrington High which gave us the emo anthem "About A Girl", the band still decided to hang it up, only giving us a handful of reunion dates for 2015's Anniversary Shows for Almost Here. William Beckett has done a slew of solo projects since then, nothing to the success of his originating project TAI... Unfortunately. Alas, all we have nowadays is hopes and memories.
2. The Bled
The F'ing BLED BRO! This was a band fueled by fierce tenacity and violent passion that was laced into nearly every single track. The band had fervent valor of your face breakdowns and intense interesting guitar riffs that worked their socks off to melt you down to your bones. Enjoying a long stint on Vagrant Records, they ended their tenure as a band on Rise Records in their final days. The Bled released four albums, each with their own style infused with hardcore punk flavor merging very early day experimental mathcore, their lyrics reading like something you'd find in a war-torn conspiracy novel at times.
The Arizona natives were a force to be reckoned with as they kept constant with their work up until the very end, always touring and opening for major acts such as My Chemical Romance, Taking Back Sunday, and Linkin Park. The sky was the limit for the band until line up shifts and poor sales for Heat Fetish finally tore the tether for the band who disbanded in 2012, playing their final show in February of that year, citing they wanted to move forward to other projects. After their disbanding, only newsworthy things happened for some of the band members. The Bled's drummer was kicked out of MCR, replacing Bob Bryer for robbing from the other members of the band-oof. Other than that, vocalist James Munoz moved on into a career in stand up appearing on FunnyOrDie sketches and playing bass for the punk rock band Smoke Or Fire. We all wish they'd just come back and kick some ass and give us something, anything!
1. Drop Dead, Gorgeous
Dressed For Friends Request, need I say more? Three full-lengths and an EP under the belt, tenures at Suretone, Geffen, and Rise Records? They did it all and then some while touring with all the greats. The band totally embraced the culture as a scene-core Screamo band with songs like "Fashion Your Seatbelts" or joining the ridiculously long obnoxious song name titles with tracks like "Knife vs Face: Round 1" and we ate it up like a nice plate of delicious food. The band was a fever dream of pulse rattlings breakdowns and frantic banshee screams mixed with the somber beautiful keyboard playing of Aaron Rothe that really tied the whole band together, co-mingling around Danny Stillman's hellfire vocals. The band saw a stark change in their sound creating a bold mature concept album with a mystery that still isn't solved to this day. Worse Than A Fairytale had us all wondering what the hell was happening in Saylor Lake.
The band's final album before departure was a stark contrast to their previous work, as their keyboardist had departed from the band to work on his solo career and play piano with Sonny Moore's solo project before he became Skrillex. Hot N' Heavy was still a superb final effort from the band. What brought them to the dance in everyone's mind though was the MySpace favorite "In Vogue". Rise Records had a beast on their hands and honestly, it was hard not seeing them absolutely everywhere on your friend's list. Unfortunately, by 2012 it was pretty much confirmed the band had no plans for a reunion, Danny Stillman formed the short-lived Bleach Blonde on Rise Records before dismantling it and going on to a much more successful electronica project 888. Alas, we all still miss DDG, don't we?