Explore every episode of the podcast Finding Emo

We talk about the newest Haley Williams single, Good Ol' Days. It's completely obviously about her and Paramore guitarist Taylor York's relationship, and despite feeling like a windows down vibe, is super sad. Then we get into our initial thoughts on the new Yellowcard album after a few tangents, as per the usual.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:09 Hayley Williams' New Single Discussion

06:33 Analyzing the Lyrics and Themes

11:26 The Future of Paramore and Relationships

14:38 The Resurgence of Rock Music

20:23 Current Rock Releases and Band Dynamics

22:04 The Resurgence of Raw Music

26:40 Yellow Card's New Album: Initial thoughts

39:03 Exploring Favorite Tracks from Yellow Card's New Album

44:34 The Art of Cover Songs

We talked last week about The Format playing Fallon this week, but at that point didn't know there'd be a new single and full album announcement. So, 20 years after the last album, we're getting a third album from the Arizona band! We talk about the excitement of fans of fun. discovering Nate's previous band's new tunes, and theorize this is going to be a departure from the band...into pure rock n' roll.

This week Kyle and Blake are talking about the new The Starting Line album, Eternal Youth, as well as Acceptance's Phantoms/Twenty re-imagining. Plus, The Format is doing a few reunion shows, including playing Jimmy Fallon on October 6th where the other guest is the genre's biggest promoter, Taylor Swift. We look forward to millions of Swifties discovering The Format, even if they're 20 years late to the party.

We're so excited that Motion City Soundtrack is making new music. We're even more thrilled that the album is, as should be expected, awesome.

Kris and Blake also talk about Cartel's Chroma - 2025 album, where they re-record, but maybe don't quite re-imagine, their 2005 debut album on it's 20th anniversary.

NOTES:

- Ep055 - Chroma by Cartel (full episode discussing the album)

- Ep013 - Commit This To Memory by Motion City Soundtrack (full album episode)

- Ep044 - Even If It Kills Me by Motion City Soundtrack (full album episode)

- Motion City Soundtrack - The Same Old Wasted Wonderful World

- Cartel - Chroma 2025

We talk about Panic! At The Disco's original demos, as well as new music we're listening to.

We're back! And we figured we should return with as big an album as the 2000s produced, and so we chose Fall Out Boy's massively successful Infinity on High. The 2007 album sold over 2 million records worldwide!

We love the album, but can't help but make fun of some of the lyrics. And we're genuinely blown away by the creative leap taken on this album - Patrick Stump really expanded the definition of what works in pop-punk with this one.

Video version to come as soon as Blake works out the technical problems...apologies.

Hayley Williams released the album version of the 17 singles she dropped last month, but more importantly (because we're out of touch), apparently she and Paramore guitarist Taylor York broke up. We're understandably concerned about what that means for the future of one of our favorite bands.

We're talking about the 20 year celebratory version of Jack's Mannequin - Everything In Transit. It's just Andrew, piano, and GREAT string arrangements of 5 of the album's tracks. And we dig it. Plus we continue our talk from last week about artists re-imagining their songs/albums.

Vote for which albums we should cover on the show next!

Blake and Kyle talk about Acceptance's new singles from their re-recording of Phantoms, which turns 20 this year. The entire album features guest vocalists, including Teddy Swims on So Contagious and Martin Johnson on Take Cover. The new Phantoms/Twenty album is out September 12th!

Plus we talk about where Avril Lavigne stole her signature Complicated video look from, and expand on why we think so many artists are doing cool re-imaginings of their albums lately.

VOTE FOR WHICH ALBUM WE COVER NEXT!

https://forms.gle/VfXfnhLxooRdoUn77

AFI have a new single, and both the sound and look took the guys by surprise. Davey Havok is rocking a curly fro, braids, a handlebar mustache and a t-shirt that frees the nip. And honestly, the vibe works with the new song.

Then we talk about a recent live show Kyle attended and our favorite tour pranks.

Notes:

We discuss the latest music releases from Motion City Soundtrack and Hayley Williams (who released all 17 singles on streaming), exploring the stories behind the new singles and the excitement surrounding upcoming albums. And then we answer what full album we'd like to see performed live.

Chapters

00:00 New Music Releases: Motion City Soundtrack & Hayley Williams

08:50 Exploring the Impact of Late Night TV (it's all Jay Leno's fault) on Music Culture

17:30 Hayley Williams' New Singles: A Deeper Dive

23:23 Albums We Wish We Could See Live in Full

Let us know what albums you want us to talk about next!

What a week! Haley Williams dropped 17 new tracks on her 90s aesthetic website (which we're pretty sure has disappeared, now). The Starting Line teased and released a new single from their upcoming album. And when Justin Pierre fell ill and couldn't join his band Motion City Soundtrack, the guys called in some favors and had the likes of Patrick Stump take the mic.

Question of the week: Which musicians are you choosing for your dream band?

Blake and Kyle chat about the unexpected comeback of The Starting Line, thanks to a shoutout from Taylor Swift. They debate the difference between full re-imagining of classic albums (yay!) and artists sneakily George Lucas-ing their original albums on Streaming. Plus, find out which bands Kyle and Blake would drop everything for if they asked us to join.

Look at us being consistent and releasing snacks two weeks in a row! On the agenda today: MXPX and The Ataris are gracing 4 towns with their presence this coming fall, including OKC (probably because we're so good at basketball). Plus, we learn what the upcoming Yellowcard album's cover art is all about and feel like a-holes. And, as expected, Kyle gets us talking about Creed.

• Let us know what albums you'd like us to cover on upcoming full episodes here
• MXPX and The Ataris tickets

SURVEY: What albums do you most want to hear us talk about next?

We are aware we've been radio silent for over a year. Life has been busy for us. But we're getting back to it! In this SNACK!, we talk about Yellowcard's three tunes released so far from their upcoming Better Days album.

Stay tuned on Thursdays for these short SNACK! episodes, where we'll talk about what's going on the genre currently. And as soon as the three of us get in a room together, we'll start recording more full album episodes to help with your nostalgia cravings as you cruise into middle age.

NOTES:

Yellowcard - Better Days on Spotify and Apple Music

Happy 4 year birthday to the podcast! As per tradition, we do a Jimmy Eat World record every year and we've made our way to the 2010 album Invented by the kings of emo from Arizona. This record definitely had a tough task of following four PERFECT albums in a row from Jimmy Eat World (Clarity, Bleed American, Futures, Chase This Light), and we'll admit it was hard for it to live up its predecessor. But - spoiler alert - the whole album is a bit of a "grower, not a show-er" for us. What do you think?

00:00:00 INTRO

00:02:55 About the album

00:09:35 First Impressions

00:17:38 Track 1 - A Heart Is Hard To Find

00:27:22 Track 2 - My Best Theory

00:33:24 Track 3 - Evidence

00:38:56 Track 4 - Higher Devotion

00:43:30 Track 5 - Movielike

00:49:18 Track 6 - Coffee and Cigarettes

00:56:00 Track 7 - Stop

01:05:12 Track 8 - Littlething

01:09:10 Track 9 - Cut

01:15:58 Track 10 - Action Needs An Audience

01:20:54 Track 11 - Invented

01:29:15 Track 12 - Mixtape

01:36:14 Lasting impressions

In this episode of "Finding Emo," we dive into New Found Glory's iconic album "Sticks and Stones." Celebrating its 20th anniversary, we explore everything from the album's production with Neil Avron to the cameos from the likes of Mark Hoppus on the album. We'll share why tracks like "My Friends Over You" have left a lasting mark on the punk scene and what made New Found Glory different than other pop-punk bands. Join us for a mix of nostalgia, analysis, and behind-the-scenes insights into one of the early 2000s' defining punk rock albums.

Relient K nailed it with their follow up to their breakout album, Mmhmm. Five Score takes what worked about the previous album and gets even more ambitious - specifically ending the album with an 11 minute epic. We think they strung together a perfect three records with this sandwiched right inbetween MmHmm and Forget and Not Slow Down.

00:00:00 Intro

00:01:57 Quick history of the album

00:08:10 Let's talk about the Christian music scene

00:19:26 First impressions

00:23:43 Track 1 :: Pleading the Fifth (A Cappella)

00:27:54 Track 2 :: Come Right Out and Say It

00:32:22 Track 3 :: I Need You

00:35:08 Track 4 :: The Best Thing

00:44:20 Track 5 :: Forgiven

00:48:04 Track 6 :: Must Have Done Something Right

00:53:58 Track 7 :: Give Until There's Nothing Left

00:56:08 Track 8 :: Devastation and Reform

01:03:20 Track 9 :: I'm Taking You With Me

01:07:31 Track 10 :: Faking My Own Suicide

01:14:55 Track 11 :: Crayons Can melt on Us for All I Care

01:16:36 Track 12 :: Bite My Tongue

01:20:31 Track 13 :: Up and Up

01:24:13 Track 14 :: Deathbed

01:35:54 Does it hold up? Is it their best record? Is it their most important record?

Hayley Williams is the G.O.A.T. Yeah, we said it. Now, listen to us say it for 2 hours straight.

After the departure of the brothers Farrow, I don't think any of us imagined we'd be getting this album. But it turned out Hayley Williams' pipes weren't Paramore's only secret weapon, because Taylor and Jeremy also kicked their musicianship to a higher gear, and we'd argue the band was better off in the long-run letting Taylor take over all guitar work. Their 2013 release went on to be the band's first platinum album, and gave us the inescapable classic "Ain't It Fun", which we'd argue is one of the best songs of the twenty-teens.

They also managed to make the only album with interlude tracks worth a damn, so there's that.

We're back!!! We took some time off, but we're back to our regularly scheduled programming. Thanks for sticking around!

What a weird little gem of a 70s record this album was in a sea of the giant drums and guitars of 2006. The Format's sophomore effort sees the beginnings of what would become Nate Ruess'' next project, fun., with Jack Antonoff. That obviously went on to be a huge success, but if you haven't listened to this one, you absolutely should. It's a hell of an album, and we're sad we didn't get more from The Format.

We throw all the rules out the window and review this brand new album from blink-182. It's basically a track-by-track "first impressions" episode (although we somehow skipped track 10 -apologies).

Earmuffs, for obvious reasons.

This album turned twenty this year, and it was really such a weird genre bending and impossible-to-label thing that we decided "sure, it's emo enough!". After all, it has Ben Gibbard on it, right?

These guys really created a wonderful thing and then were like "THAT'S ALL YOU GET!". We love it, and yet struggle to put into words why, exactly.

Notes:

Give up on Apple Music and Spotify

You can count on us to get a snack out related to blink-182. Every. Time. 

(unfortunately Blake somehow screwed up and left his as a draft for 3 weeks)

The new album comes out October 20th and we got a preview of two more songs from the album - the nostalgia-bomb ⁠ONE MORE TIME⁠ (complete with nostalgia-bomb ⁠video⁠) and ⁠MORE THAN YOU KNOW⁠. 

After the disappointing follow up to Something To Write Home About (at least for us), we truly needed this record. Some of us might even think it's The Get Up Kids at their best. Maybe. You'll have to listen to find out.

Was Tom's side project the beginning of the end of blink-182? (and then another beginning...and another end of the oh jeez this is so convoluted). Or does Kyle's theory hold up that this was basically the prelude to blink's untitled album? We report, you decide.

Boxcar Racer on Spotify and Apple Music

We decided the episode number deserved a title that was a mouthful, and boy did Dashboard Confessional deliver!

The Gil Norton produced follow up to The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most (seriously, Carrabba - do you get paid per letter in the title?) which included the electric-guitar-ified emo summer hit of 2003, Hands Down. Be prepared for gushing. Almost 2 hours worth of gushing. We like it a lot, basically.

Notes:

• AMAMABAS on Spotify and Apple Music

Kyle and Blake live vicariously (and jealously) through Kris' blink-182 concert experience. Including how he was sitting next to the couple he sold 2 of his floor seats to for double face value so he essentially went for free. It's been a while, so we obviously get off topic too. Is blink-182 actually making an album? What's our favorite Jimmy Eat World concert experience? Is Tom the "artist" and Mark "the business guy" in the band? We really are all over the place here. Enjoy!

Is The Darkness an emo band? Absolutely not. But does their debut album qualify as one of our favorite albums of the early 2000s? Yes, absolutely. So we're going to talk about it. Because it's our podcast. And if you enjoy your face being rocked off, you should listen to it, too.

The album turns 20 this year, complete with an album tour.

Notes

• Permission To Land on Apple Music and Spotify
• I Believe In A Thing Called Love music video
• Aformentioned tour dates
• Hot Cakes on Apple Music and Spotify (also a favorite)

We think this album is way underrated. After giving us Clarity, Bleed American, and freaking FUTURES three albums in a row, they still manage to come out swinging with Chase This Light in 2007. And if you were lucky enough to have the iTunes version, it closed with one of our favorite covers EVER (which is now on streaming services too, by the way). This band is the king of the genre, as far as we're concerned. Notes: - Chase This Light on Spotify and Apple Music - Always Be video - Take 'Em As They Come on Spotify

We skip around a bit through Yellowcard's discography to 2012 for this episode. In case you're new here, all three dudes genuinely love the band and basically spend the whole time gushing about them. Our only complaint is they haven't repressed Ocean Avenue on vinyl yet. C'mon, guys!

Notes:

• Southern Air on Spotify and Apple Music

Finding Emo, now in video form! We're trying a new thing and going to start releasing episodes in video form on Youtube and Spotify. Let us know your thoughts! We went out of order on blink-182 albums, but are finally getting around to discussing the band's monstrous follow up to Enema of the State. Singles "The Rock Show", "First Date", and "Stay Together For the Kids" contributed to the album selling over 15 million copies worldwide, but we love the whole dang thing. But you can hear the tension. Mark Hoppus, Tom DeLonge, and Travis Barker had different ideas of how to follow up the success of Enema - they managed to make this stellar record. Track listing 1. "Anthem Part Two" 2. "Online Songs" 3. "First Date" 4. "Happy Holidays, You Bastard" 5. "Story of a Lonely Guy" 6. "The Rock Show" 7. "Stay Together for the Kids" 8. "Roller Coaster" 9. "Reckless Abandon" 10. "Everytime I Look for You" 11. "Give Me One Good Reason" 12. "Shut Up" 13. "Please Take Me Home"

Blake really hadn't listened to much Thrice (ya know, due to the screaming and him being an overall wuss), so it was fun to get a fresh first perspective. Plus Kyle picked the most screamy song clips possible. 

Notes:

• The Artist in the Ambulance on Spotify and Apple Music
• Send Me an Angel cover
• Thrice's full podcast series ABOUT THIS VERY ALBUM!!!
• Rick Rubin and Paul McArtney listen to Smash Mouth
• Check out our friend Anna Lee's absolutely KILLER band tour pics on Instagram

We went out of order with The Starting Line because we love their sophomore effort so much, but went back to their debut album for this episode. We basically feel like it's a real shame we only got 3 full length albums from this band, as this album has one of the the best pop-punk songs of all time on it. 

Notes:

• Say It Like You Mean It on Spotify and Apple Music

2005 was a heck of year for music, but The Everglow is hovering at the top of all of the guys' "best of" lists for that year (and maybe the decade?!). It's full of great melodies, optimistic lyrics, and works so well from front to back as an album. We wish more people loved Mae, because they deserve it. 

Notes:

• The Everglow on Apple Music and Spotify
• Mae at The Green Door video
• A great review
• Another great review of the lyrical love story

The guys have complicated feelings about Brand New, which is no surprise if you listened to the Your Favorite Weapon episode. How can they like the music so much, but dislike everyone else talking about how much they like the music? (they understand it doesn't make sense).

Instead of talking about an album, we're talking about our favorite songs/albums we listened to in 2022. Be sure to check out the notes below for links to all the tunes! 

Notes:

• Playlist with all the tunes we discussed on Spotify and Apple Music 
• The 1975 - Being Funny In A Foreign Language on Spotify and Apple Music 
• The Midnight - Heroes on Spotify and Apple Music 
• Spanish Love Songs - Brave Faces Everyone on Spotify and Apple Music 
• Lights - Warehouse Summer on Spotify and Apple Music 
• The Story So Far - Proper Dose on Spotify and Apple Music 

We normally talk about really old music, but on today's snack we chat with a super fresh band - so fresh they just released their 2nd single ever this week! Kyle found the band on Reddit and invited Chris from Shower Beers to join us to talk about the tunes (one of which he believes is the first pop punk song tribute to an EDM song), how the band came about, and his prescription for America being more American Pie movies. 

Shower Beers on Spotify and Apple Music 

Shower Beers on Instagram 

NOFX released a tune Fat Mike originally wrote with Matt Skiba and that was recorded for blink-182's California album, but didn't end up making the cut. 

Punk Rock Cliche on Spotify and Apple Music 

This band is too gigantic for 2/3 of us to have never listened to any of their albums all the way through, so we remedy that on this episode. We realize the irony of 3 guys who don't love screaming to have a podcast about emo music, but it is what it is. 

Notes:

• Homesick on Spotify and Apple Music 
• All I Want video 
• Kyle's ADTR playlist for Blake 
• Yep, Kyle wrote this country song 

We're going back to Saves The Day's 1999 release for this episode. We talk about all the stuff you'd expect, including the (creepily foreshadowing) lyrical content. Here's what our faces looked like most of the time. 😬

More blink-182 news! More concerts! More festivals! Catch up with us. 

Kyle and Blake talk about seeing Motion City Soundtrack, A Day To Remember, and The Used recently. Kris hasn't been to a concert in a bit, so he just cries in the background. 

This one has to be on the podium of all time emo album titles, right? The Juliana Theory undoubtedly inspired a lot of bands with their 2000 album (which wasn't released Jan 1st despite Blake seeing so on Spotify - chalk that one up to a lazy intern at Tooth & Nail maybe). The guys talk at length about this and maybe get off on a tangent or twelve.

Paramore finally give us a peek into their new album scheduled to release in February 2023. We're pretty excited. 

Well, our last snack was relevant for approximately 48 hours because as of this morning, it's official - blink-182 is back with Tom with a world tour and album in 2023. Join us as we discuss in a very special SNACK recorded pre-NINE AM! A true first for the podcast. 

Adding further credibility to the rumors swirling around the internet of Tom re-joining blink-182 was a since-deleted tweet from the head of rock programming for Cumulus Media saying as much, and that the trio would be doing an arena tour in 2023. The guys discuss.

Story of the Year's debut album went platinum, y'all. So, despite Kris and Blake not having really given them a chance in the 2000s, we felt we had to do an epsiode on it. 

Blake puts Kyle and Kris on the spot to think of the best concert they went to in the 2000s. It's highly probable all three guys spent the time between recording and releasing this episode kicking themselves for not including other shows. WE WERE UNDER PRESSURE! 

Since we'll not be releasing a full album episode for Labor Day, we thought we'd put together a few songs we think you should check out. We each pick 2 old tunes, and one new(ish) one to share with each other...and you! 

Playlist on Spotify and Apple Music 

It's Cartel week here at Finding Emo, apparently. We talk about their new singles 17 and The End, and whether the beat in 17 should be referred to as "BLAH-ka-ka Blah-ka-ka" or "Clocks" beat. Very important stuff. 

Cartel on Spotify and Apple Music