Awkward & Depressed | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 28, 2017 | |||
Recorded | April – June 2017 | |||
Studio | Franck Studios in Westerville, OH | |||
Genre | ||||
Label | Independent | |||
Producer | Johnny Franck, Jarrod Alonge | |||
Jarrod Alonge chronology | ||||
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Singles from Awkward & Depressed | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Collegian | Recommended [4] |
Punk News | [5] |
Awkward & Depressed is the third studio album by internet comedian Jarrod Alonge, released under the moniker of his fictitious emo band Canadian Softball, on July 28, 2017. The album primarily satirizes and parodies tropes found in the emo genre, primarily from the early 2010s emo revival. The album directly parodies bands such as American Football, Modern Baseball, Hawthorne Heights and Hotel Books. The album also features a cover of "Seven" by Sunny Day Real Estate, a first for Alonge.
Similar to Alonge's previous releases, Awkward & Depressed was crowdfunded through an Indiegogo campaign, which raised over $26,000. [6] The album and crowdfunding campaign were announced on March 10 with the release of the "Fund Me" music video. [7] Campaign perks included a signed poster, a CD and digital download of the album, a T-shirt and hat, and a wall flag. While recording the album, Alonge released the EPs Covers, Vol. 1 and No Words Spoken by his non-comedic post-hardcore project CrazyEightyEight.
On July 7, 2017, Alonge released an official trailer for the album, revealing a 13-song track list with a sample for each song. The trailer revealed that the album would contain a cover of Sunny Day Real Estate's "Seven" along with Hotel Books providing guest vocals on the song "Cut the Cord." "Your Validation" was the first song to be released from the album, with the music video premiering on YouTube on July 14. A lyric video for the song "Ohio Is for Emo Kids" was released on July 21. The album's second music video, "Great Again," was released on July 27, a day before the album's release.
The album's first track, "Average Joe," mimics emo bands' tendency to write songs about being an "average person" and complaining about being unpopular despite being signed to a record label and having many fans. In reference to the song, Alonge stated that he was "essentially just a poor man's Bert McCracken." The song "Your Validation" is a parody of Modern Baseball with the song's name referencing their song "Your Graduation" from the album You're Gonna Miss It All . The song describes various scene phases a person goes through with the music video showing pictures of fellow YouTube comedian/musician Jared Dines going through a hardcore punk phase, an emo phase, and a scene phase, among others. The next song, "Mathematical," is a parody of American Football and math rock with the song featuring many time and tempo changes. The song becomes more chaotic as it goes on before Alonge stops it and refers to it as "musical gibberish." The title of "Great Again" is a reference to Donald Trump's campaign slogan of "Make America great again" from the 2016 presidential election. The song's lyrics glamorize American life in the 1950s, such as graduating from college debt free with a high-paying job, normalized homophobia, and calling the cops on an African-American man for no reason. The track is done in the style of The Wonder Years and the name likely references their album The Greatest Generation . The track "Mumble" features Alonge unintelligibly mumbling throughout the song with lyrics featuring communist propaganda. "Lysergide" is a shoegaze-influenced song reminiscent of new Title Fight material as well as dream-pop band Turnover with the lyrics describing a drug trip with the vocals becoming distorted near the end.
The song "Seven" is a straightforward cover of the song originally by Sunny Day Real Estate. The title of the song "Peev Shalpatine" is a reference to the Star Wars character Sheev Palpatine. The song's lyrics predominately feature Alonge re-enacting "The Tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise" from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith in the style of spoken word emo/post-hardcore bands like Hotel Books, Listener, and La Dispute. The song was originally written by Johnny Franck for his musical project Bilmuri, but didn't end up on the album and was instead given to Jarrod. The next song, "Weebi FM," is a post-hardcore parody in the style of Hawthorne Heights with the song's title being a reference to "Niki FM". The song's lyrics describe a young man that has been friend zoned by a girl despite being nice toward her and his distress over it. "Cut the Cord" features guest vocals from Hotel Books. The lyrics are seemingly about a man ending a relationship with a person before it is revealed at the end that he is actually ending his cable services with Comcast. "United We Skramz" is a screamo song in the style of Pg. 99. The song begins with an audio clip of Donald Trump saying that no other president has been treated as badly as he has while the lyrics reference the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, James Garfield, and Abraham Lincoln. This clip references the Nirvana clip in the intro of Pg. 99's song "In Love With an Apparition." "Ohio Is for Emo Kids" is a medley consisting of parody snippets of twenty different emo, pop punk, post-hardcore, and alternative rock songs. [nb 1] In addition to focusing on the songs' melodramatic nature (referencing things such as suicide, being bullied, losing a job, and missing a concert), the song also lampoons their often erroneous association with the emo genre, making reference to proper emo acts such as Jawbreaker, Rites of Spring, Sunny Day Real Estate, and Pinkerton -era Weezer. The song ends with the opening riff from "The Words 'Best Friend' Become Redefined" by Chiodos before it is abruptly cut-off with Alonge stating that the song is running too long. The song's title is a reference to "Ohio Is for Lovers" by Hawthorne Heights. The album's final song, "Pink Wednesday," is an acoustic rock song in the style of Tigers Jaw with lyrics inspired by the 2004 film Mean Girls .
All tracks are written by Jarrod Alonge, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Average Joe" | 2:18 | |
2. | "Your Validation" | 3:23 | |
3. | "Mathematical" | Alonge, Franck | 2:54 |
4. | "Great Again" | 3:32 | |
5. | "Mumble" | Alonge, Franck | 2:04 |
6. | "Lysergide" | Alonge, Franck | 3:15 |
7. | "Seven" (Sunny Day Real Estate cover) | Jeremy Enigk, Dan Hoerner | 3:26 |
8. | "Peev Shalpatine" | Alonge, Franck | 2:24 |
9. | "Weebi FM" | 3:20 | |
10. | "Cut the Cord" (feat. Hotel Books) | Alonge, Franck, Cam Smith | 2:36 |
11. | "United We Skramz" | 2:16 | |
12. | "Ohio Is for Emo Kids" | Alonge, et al.
| 4:52 |
13. | "Pink Wednesday" | 4:02 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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14. | "The Distance Between You and Me Is Longer Than the Title of This Song" | Alonge, Jamie Phillips, Jaden Smith | 3:46 |
15. | "Brevé Canzoné" ("Brief Song") | 0:15 | |
16. | "Fund Me" | 3:25 |
Chart (2017) | Peak position |
---|---|
US Billboard Top Comedy Albums [9] | 1 |
US Billboard Top Heatseekers [10] | 19 |
US Billboard Independent Albums [11] | 39 |
Emo is a music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and post-hardcore from the mid-1980s Washington, D.C. hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands Rites of Spring and Embrace, among others, pioneered the genre. In the early-to-mid 1990s, emo was adopted and reinvented by alternative rock, indie rock, punk rock, and pop-punk bands, including Sunny Day Real Estate, Jawbreaker, Cap'n Jazz, and Jimmy Eat World. By the mid-1990s, Braid, the Promise Ring, and the Get Up Kids emerged from Midwest emo, and several independent record labels began to specialize in the genre. Meanwhile, screamo, a more aggressive style of emo using screamed vocals, also emerged, pioneered by the San Diego bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow. Screamo achieved mainstream success in the 2000s with bands like Hawthorne Heights, Silverstein, Story of the Year, Thursday, the Used, and Underoath.
Sunny Day Real Estate is an American emo band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band currently consists of founding members Jeremy Enigk, Dan Hoerner (guitar) and William Goldsmith (drums), alongside Greg Suran (guitar), who originally played with the band between 2000 and 2001, and Chris Jordan (bass), who joined the band in 2022. Founding bass guitarist Nate Mendel was a member of the band during three of its four incarnations.
Screamo is an aggressive subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics". San Diego-based bands Heroin and Antioch Arrow pioneered the genre in the early 1990s, and it was developed in the late 1990s mainly by bands from the East Coast of the United States such as Pg. 99, Orchid, Saetia, and I Hate Myself. Screamo is strongly influenced by hardcore punk and characterized by the use of screamed vocals. Lyrical themes usually include emotional pain, death, romance, and human rights. The term "screamo" has frequently been mistaken as referring to any music with screaming.
Silverstein is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 2000. Their band name is a reference to the famous children's author Shel Silverstein, who the band had admired and whose work they had read as children. They have released a total of 11 studio albums, seven EPs, a compilation album and a live DVD/CD. Their lineup remained unchanged for eleven years from December 2001 to September 2012, then consisting of lead vocalist Shane Told, lead guitarist Neil Boshart, rhythm guitarist Josh Bradford, bassist Billy Hamilton, and drummer Paul Koehler. In September 2012, the band had announced that Neil Boshart had been fired and would be replaced by Paul Marc Rousseau, who also joined Billy Hamilton on backing vocals. The band achieved moderate success with their second studio album, Discovering the Waterfront, which was nominated for a Juno Award and reached No. 34 on the Billboard 200 charts, with the following two albums charting at similar positions. Silverstein has sold over 1,000,000 albums worldwide.
Hawthorne Heights is an American rock band from Dayton, Ohio, formed in 2001. Originally called A Day in the Life, their lineup currently consists of JT Woodruff, Matt Ridenour, Mark McMillon, and Chris Popadak.
Diary is the debut studio album by American rock band Sunny Day Real Estate, released on May 10, 1994. The album is considered by many to be a defining emo album of the second wave, and key in the development of its subgenre, Midwest emo. It has also been called the missing link between post-hardcore and the nascent emo genre.
The Silence in Black and White is the debut studio album by the American rock band Hawthorne Heights, and their first release after changing their name from A Day in the Life.
"Ohio Is for Lovers", also known as simply "Ohio", is a 2005 song by American rock band Hawthorne Heights, released as the debut single from their debut studio album, The Silence in Black and White, which was released in 2004. It was produced by Jay Orpin. According to lead singer JT Woodruff, the song is about going on tour whilst leaving their girlfriends in Ohio.
"Saying Sorry" is a song by American rock band Hawthorne Heights. It was released on May 22, 2006, as the debut single from their second studio album, If Only You Were Lonely. "Saying Sorry" was released to radio on January 31, 2006. The song peaked at #7 on the Billboard Alternative Songs Chart.
"Niki FM" is a song by American rock band Hawthorne Heights. "Niki FM" was released to radio on September 27, 2005 as the second single from their debut studio album, The Silence in Black and White. It peaked at #40 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Emo pop is a fusion genre combining emo with pop-punk, pop music, or both. Emo pop features a musical style with more concise composition and hook-filled choruses. Emo pop has its origins in the 1990s with bands like Jimmy Eat World, the Get Up Kids, Weezer and the Promise Ring. The genre entered the mainstream in the early 2000s with Jimmy Eat World's breakthrough album Bleed American, which included its song "The Middle". Other emo pop bands that achieved mainstream success throughout the decade included Fall Out Boy, the All-American Rejects, My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco and Paramore. The popularity of emo pop declined in the 2010s, with some prominent artists in the genre either disbanding or abandoning the emo pop style.
Johnny Franck, also known as Bilmuri, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer. He is best known as the former clean vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Attack Attack!. He departed the band in 2010, and formed a new group called The March Ahead. In 2016, he started a new musical project under the name, Bilmuri. Franck has also produced music for artists such as Dave Days and Jarrod Alonge.
Skeletons is the fourth studio album by American rock band Hawthorne Heights, released June 1, 2010. It is their first and only album to be released through Wind-up Records, and is also the first release since If Only You Were Lonely to employ screamed vocals, with guitarist Micah Carli adding limited vocals into select tracks on the record. The album was produced by Howard Benson. The album peaked at #50 on the Billboard top 200 albums.
Counterparts are a Canadian melodic hardcore/metalcore band formed in 2007 in Hamilton, Ontario, that currently consists of vocalist Brendan Murphy, guitarists Tyler Williams and Jesse Doreen, and drummer Kyle Brownlee. Their two most recent albums, released through Pure Noise Records, have received critical acclaim from Rock Sound and Exclaim! magazines. They are among the most visible bands within contemporary melodic hardcore, while they are also considered one of the major powers of the metalcore revival wave.
Beating a Dead Horse is the debut studio album by YouTube comedian Jarrod Alonge, self-released on May 26, 2015. The album features seven different fictitious bands created by Alonge to satirize the tropes and characteristics of alternative music genres such as metalcore, post-hardcore, pop punk, emo, progressive metal, hardcore punk and others.
Jarrod Michael Alonge is an American comedian, songwriter and music producer. He is best known for his parodies of the artists, sub-genres and stereotypes within alternative music. He has released three independent full-length studio albums, Beating a Dead Horse, Friendville and Awkward & Depressed, all of which reached number one on the Billboard Top Comedy Albums chart. Alonge is the owner and founder of Boketo Media, a digital media and production company which launched in March 2019. He is also the lead songwriter and guitarist of post-hardcore supergroup CrazyEightyEight.
Friendville is the second album by YouTube comedian Jarrod Alonge, released under the moniker of his fictitious pop punk band Sunrise Skater Kids, on April 1, 2016. The album primarily satirizes and parodies the tropes and characteristics of the pop punk genre, but also shifts focus to the melodic hardcore and metalcore genres. Direct parodies of specific bands within the pop punk genre such as Blink-182, NOFX, Mayday Parade, Neck Deep and Knuckle Puck are also included.
Space Zombies is the first EP by YouTube comedian Jarrod Alonge, released under the moniker of his fictitious metalcore band Amidst the Grave's Demons on June 17, 2016. The album's title is a reference to the Zombie and Space EPs by The Devil Wears Prada.