my careless contagion

Disconnected, from Face to Face's 1992 album Don't Turn Away (which is, in my opinion, a perfect punk rock album) is a simply-worded song. The lyrics aren't complicated. The singing is straightforward and predictably angsty and overwrought in typical punk-rock fashion. I saw Face to Face perform a few times. Keep in mind this is a three-piece band. These sounds are coming from three people each playing an instrument. The bass alone is perfect. As a whole, it's profound and simple at the same time and paints a perfect picture of what many people feel at some point in their lives, which is a disconnect from those around them (and maybe even themselves).  Before I go off on a tangent, here are the lyrics.  You don't know a thing about me Is there something that you should know? I can tell you what you want to hear Let your inhibitions just go No you don't know what you will give up You don't know what you want It may take you years to find out You don't kno...

I don't know when I first started listening to punk rock. Sometime during high school. It is such an expansive genre. My preference was hardcore, notably melodic hardcore. I was drawn to Bad Religion because they were unique and intelligent but also listened to Nitro bands like Guttermouth and AFI. I knew all the Fat Wreck Chords bands. Greatly appreciated Gorilla Biscuits and, later, CIV. I loved Fugazi (I think they were my first show; tickets were $5 plus a Ticketmaster service charge of $1). Later, I got into Social Distortion, Face to Face, Samiam, and others too numerous to list. I had tapes. I had CDs. I had vinyl. Gigabytes of mp3s. Rare stuff, covers, bootlegs, live shows, stuff that was never released anywhere but Japan (why always Japan?). I recall seeing Sick of It All open for AFI and was more impressed with the opening band (even though I wanted to see AFI for about 15 years at that point). I was ready to go home after that. It was ridiculously good. I saw a ton of He...

The band is Face to Face. The song is All for nothing off their new album. Their newest release is an acoustic album on the venerable Fat Wreck Chords label. This is a sort of greatest-hits album, only with acoustic versions. Trevor Keith's voice sounds strange without cacophonous guitars and a blistering punk rock beat. My first thought was, "Wow, these guys got wussy." Then I listened again and finally felt what they were trying to accomplish. I think it works. When you take the punk rock out and leave the lyrics, sometimes the songs collapse. This is a good song, so it stands on its own.  As is my modus operandi, I'm going to use a song to talk about something pertaining to my life. I'm going to talk about sacrifice. Trevor is clearly talking about a relationship in this song, and the tone seems to be sacrifice. He's saying, "Here's what I've done. It's all to be with you." The lyrics are not as good as they could be. I'm n...

I've let you go, but the memories remain like the smell after the rain. In every bad thing, there's something good to be found.  I remember the first time you met my parents, when I drove that angry old Jeep out to South Dakota and we drove through the Badlands. It was so hot my rearview mirror melted right off the windshield. We didn't have any reason to look back, though, did we?  You would sneak into my room and sleep on the floor next to me just to be close. We weren't married so we couldn't sleep together, but you couldn't help yourself.  There are so many memories; I'm sorting them now. Some are good and some are bad, but they're all us. We made them, for better or for worse.  How about the night I rolled up to your mom's house for the first time. It was December, but it wasn't cold. I saw you in the flesh for the first time. We talked until the wee hours of the morning. And the next day was Christmas Eve Day. I said I d...

*When Face to Face released "Ignorance is Bliss" in 1999, they bundled it with a little album called "So Why Aren't You Happy?", and these two albums had a polarizing effect on their audience that effectively killed the band. As Trevor Keith, the singer of the band, explained, without recording the albums, they would have broken up anyway, simply because they had to be made. For a band that was known more for being fun, this album shocked their audience. And, I have to say, it was a completely ballsy move. These albums are the saddest things I've ever heard on a CD. It shocked me when I first heard them, but I fell in love with them because they were so honest. As for being honest, when I listen to this song, all I can hear is what I saw coming all those years – the dissolution of my relationship. This dynamic played out year after year until I couldn't do it anymore. As I sit alone in my tiny apartment, I realize that I'm not the monster I tho...