Hello everyone and happy New Year's Eve! It's day 31 of our AOTY 2018 series and today, /u/NMHipsterTrash is here to tackle Graduation Life's latest album Grad Life.
Artist: Graduating Life
Album: Grad Life
Listen:
Background by /u/NMHipsterTrash
Graduating Life is a band mainly consisting of former Green Bay Quarterback songwriter/guitarist Bart Starr and drummer Logan Jensen. As their former project Meet Me in Montauk began to die down, Graduating Life dropped three demos and an EP entitled Freakin’ Weekin’. The band began to grow as an active output for Bart Starr, who became busy playing with his friends in Just Friends and Mom Jeans, who also released an album in 2018.
After their debut LP, An Introduction to Rock And Roll, Starr was unsure of where the band was headed. He had talked about in interviews for there to be “one last album” and tour with Just Friends. Expected to be released in mid-August, the untitled second LP became one of the most anticipated of the year. Two days before Labor Day, Starr announced Grad Life on his instagram. According to a post by Ryan Ellery, the duo had spent “eighty hours a week demoing, rewriting, and reworking the album” immediately after they finished AItRAR. The cover, a reference to wearing black on Labor Day, established what to expect from this new project.
And on September 2nd, Grad Life was dropped on Bandcamp.
Review by /u/NMHipsterTrash
It’s been a shitty year.
Well, okay, by all means it has been a fantastic year for emo music. Awakebutstillinbed and Charmer came out with blistering debut LPs. California Cousins and Stars Hollow showed their technical efficiency in writing catchy, hard hitting tunes, and emo giants Oliver Houston and Donavan Wolfington casted solid goodbyes. In the /r/Indieheads sphere, Foxing caught a lot of attention for (somehow) creating a perfect mix of emo and stadium rock. Likewise, the boom in popularity for Mom Jeans. and their newest release, Puppy Love, signaled a possible shift to a new wave of emo music--tentatively titled “weed emo”.
But, still, it’s been a shitty year. Whether it’d be for personal or political reasons, for a lot of people the past twelve months can best be described as a mess. Coping mechanisms for handling difficult times varies person to person, with some being healthy habits and others not so much. It’s fair to say a lot of us do look to music and other forms of art as a solace for our emotions. Emo music exists as a genre because of this as lyrics are commonly self-indulgent and navelgazing, creating a sense of vulnerability in the music. Nothing is better than knowing you aren’t alone in how you feel, because someone somewhere is going through the exact same thing. There are a lot of musicians out there finding different ways to express their gripes with life, and they have made some great, relatable art.
That’s what makes Grad Life special. Not because it is one of many emo albums in a similar vein, but because of how well it manages its’ emotions. Grad Life is unprecedented in its honesty and musicianship, and once the opening acoustic guitar and backing ambience on “There’s Only One Way” hits, it’s clear the album’s going to be heavy. The almost-theatrical buildup, backing “I know you”’s, and wailing guitar transition into a pop punk breakdown makes the Welcome to the Black Parade influence incredibly evident, but the grand scope of the song adds to the charm. The lyrics contrast the upbeat instrumentation, with the final lines “I bleed American piece of shit muddy blood from impatient men” being only a piece of what Bart Starr has to offer, a set-up to what he has to offer in the following songs.
Bart’s lyrics are at the forefront of almost every song on Grad Life. Take “Family Reunion”, the second song on the album, for the example. Even though there is an incredibly catchy synth line and extra vocals from Brianda Goyos (who frequently collaborates with the Just Friends-Graduating Life-Mom Jeans camp), it’s hard to ignore a chorus with “There’s nothing complex about my traits, history projects I’ll die alone and overweight not a mistake”. Likewise, headbanging to the bridge/outro can’t overlook what feels like a diary entry put to pop punk.
The lyrics are bleak. There’s no creative metaphor to try to hit deep in the heartstrings; they are blunt articulations of his feelings. Sure, emo music often doesn’t delve into that style of songwriting, but there is a clear difference from “you left me and i can’t sleep” and “i am heartbroken, i want to die”. “Carry A White Flag” straight out states that if he has to take antidepressants, then he’s meant to be depressed. It’s heartbreaking, like a scream into the void. However, it’s done in true pvnk fashion with a wavy guitar solo and soaring synths.
A soft piano opens up “It’s Second Year”, which suggests a change of pace. That doesn’t last long, as aggressive guitar and brass section kicks in while Bart directs anger towards himself. He has a desire to self-destruct, change himself to better live his life (“Starved myself until my family doesn’t know me/I wanna be set free and gone for good”). “Don’t Have Kids” serves as an excellent contrast, expressing his anger out towards how he was raised. It has one hell of a pre-chorus, a catchy rhythm and an example of great musicianship. The vocal melody in this specific section is oddly beautiful, but it transitions into one hell of an instrumental break with punchy bass and loud drums, reflective of the subject matter. Bart builds up against being disrespected by a presumed family member, only to fade the song out with “All the things you hate are all the things you can’t change” and the sound of a hospital monitor.
Now, “Watch You Die!!!” is a weird song. Not bad by any means (in fact it’s my favorite), but it’s a rather straightforward description of seeing a friend on their deathbed. There is guilt, there is sadness, there is regret. “But now you’re stuck in wires suspended in time” paints a beautiful image of slowly approaching death.
Then...it’s incredibly upbeat? It is so hard to do it justice over a review. The catchiest, poppiest part of the entire album discusses watching someone die. Like, holy fuck.
Anyways, the album picks back up with “Stinky Man”, which blatantly expresses Bart’s want to kill himself (And if I get 1 chance/to end my life for real/I won’t wince), but it’s still a fun song. As someone whose a lot of mental problems are rooted in being too hard on their self, lines like “and the way that I work is just like everyone else/but I don’t wanna think that so I destroy my health” articulate self-doubt than I ever could.
“Victory Song” & “Your Town Is A Time Capsule” are easily the most uplifting tracks out of the bunch, promoting the messages of “don’t give up when life is shit” and “please grow up outside of your hometown”, respectively. It actually seems hypocritical of Bart to say these things as he often talks about wanting to give up, but there’s no way he will. Throughout all of Grad Life, death, suicide, and self-hatred is discussed in great detail, but not once does it seem like those options are viable.
What makes Grad Life stand out is its honesty. Depression sucks. Waking up sucks, hating yourself sucks, everything sucks. And it’s difficult to feel like no matter what you do, nothing will make it better. There will always be a cloud of doubt over your head, one that distorts what reality is. Yeah, sure, you’ll always be aware people do care, and it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to harm yourself, but that desire will always be there to some extent. “Finale”, which is part-grand send off part-2000’s commercial rock song, caps the end of the thematic adventure. There is no hope to live, but there is an obligation. All selfish wants are made clear (“Can you feel me? I feel like I’m barely here”, “I’ll try but what’s the point if I’m gone tomorrow”, “Hopefully I can choke and pass in my sleep/I don’t wanna have kids cause I don’t wanna see their face/When they realize they’re stuck and have to live inside this place”), and Bart leaves us feel broken down, but not dead. Same old kid, same old story. The cathartic phrase Graduating Life shouts as the aggressive synths, drums, bass, and guitars back a goodbye.
Not the goodbye expected at the start of this album. Grad Life is a coping mechanism. For Bart, for the listener, for anyone ever feeling hopeless. It’s hard to explain why this is such a great album without trying to forge a personal experience similar to mine, but I’ll put it frank.
Grad Life does not spend a second sulking. Even in the music videos for two of the more depressing songs, everyone is seen with a smile. There is a sense of enjoyment throughout the whole album, and when handling serious topics, this is important. At the end of the tunnel is a light, and on the trip there you’ll probably crush a few tallboys of PBR and be fistbumping the entire way. If life wasn’t worth living, then you wouldn’t be alive.
Grad Life makes me thankful to be alive. Grad Life makes me thankful I didn’t give up. Grad Life makes me thankful I made it to the end of the year. And hopefully it does for other people. It means a lot.
Favorite Lyrics by /u/NMHipsterTrash
Pull out my hair for fun and run my nails right down my face
Wake up disoriented almost every single day
Wishing each dream I had was real finding out they're not and that I'm trapped in here
With myself in my room alone
You may think life is fun
But sometimes I don't see it that way
I started medication weaned myself off
That happiness was artificial and fake
Don't you agree? If my happiness has to be forced then it wasn't meant to be
- "Carry A White Flag"
Hey you yell at me
Tell me all the things you want me to be
You came down the stairs asked me if I was tough
and pushed me against the wall
is this family love
I hit as hard as I could grabbed my shit and then left
Why did I ever think you could love me enough to give me respect now
I'm just the kid who didn't find his place
and found out all the things you hate are all the things you can't change
- "Don’t Have Kids"
We came here to watch you die
We came to watch you pass in front of me
And I never saw you cry
I bet you don't even know what is happening
They turned out the lights
To make it more comforting
A dark end to life
No way will you ever stay out of my mind
- "Watch You Die!!!"
Talking Points
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With the supposed death of emo revival and an introduction of a “fifth wave”, where do you see the emo scene heading in 2019 and onwards?
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What other albums/musicians do you think handle depression in similar or better ways?
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Should My Chemical Romance be that stigmatized, even with apparent influence on contemporary emo/pop punk?
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Thoughts on the other Ryan Ellery-produced albums to be dropped this year?
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Where does Bart Starr rank all-time as a quarterback? Above or below Aaron Rodgers?
Special thanks to /u/NMHipsterTrash for this great write-up! We're back tomorrow with /u/blueboredom_'s take on Vundabar's Smell Smoke. Thank you for reading and have a happy, or at least tolerable, new year!
Submitted December 31, 2018 at 07:13PM by gymnol7412 http://bit.ly/2EY2Stp
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