"mEMOries" Part 22 feat. Downhaul

8 years ago, back on the old site, we did start a series called mEMOries. It was all about asking new Emo-bands or other scene affiliates about their all time favourite (Midwest-)Emo-record. It was about nostalgia. And it was about connecting the new with the old. I had big plans for this series, wanted to collect 20 parts and then release some sort of a sampler with an XL-booklet attached, that features all of the text pieces...

...after 7 parts the series was buried, when the end of borderline fuckup 1.0 was on the horizon. I'm still in love with the idea and tried my best to start a relaunch in 2021, but it mainly was a chore. However, I got back on track somehow, with a lot of support by some lovely people. Now, here's part 22 for your reading pleasure!

~

// The band // Downhaul

Formed 2016 in Greensboro, North Carolina, DOWNHAUL are now residing in Richmond, Virginia. They started out with a handful of EPs, before putting out their debut album in 2019, which was then followed by last years "Proof"-LP. The four piece aims for a more artistic approach on Emo, incorporating elements of Post- and Indie-Rock into their sound. For "mEMOries" Part 22 their drummer Andrew Seymour wrote a lovely piece about his special relationship to DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE's third Full Length...

~

// The record // Death Cab for Cutie - We have the Facts and we're voting Yes

Release: 2000 // Label: Barsuk Records

~

Andrew on "We have the Facts and we're voting Yes" by Death Cab for Cutie

If I am completely honest, listening to “Emo” music is not something that comes natural to me. The reason for this is twofold: one is that I grew up in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, an area known more for folk and bluegrass than emo. The other reason is that I don’t particularly enjoy the genre. Even the “Emo” bands I love (e.g. Sunny Day Real Estate and Texas is the Reason) share, in my opinion, stronger ties to Punk and Post-Hardcore.

Lately, however, I find myself drawn to bands and albums I would categorize as “Emo-adjacent”. For the sake of this post, Emo-adjacent is a catch-all term for artists that tinker with and allude to Emo music without being categorically Emo. In terms of Emo-adjacent works, I can think of no more personally influential album than Death Cab for Cutie’s 2000 release, We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes.

Like many millennials who entered adolescence in the mid-to-late aughts, I was introduced to Death Cab for Cutie by way of  “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” , the massive hit single off their 2005 album Plans. Although I was –and still am– a drummer by trade, I picked up guitar towards the end of 8th grade, and “I Will Follow…”  was one of the first songs I taught myself how to play. Singer/frontman Ben Gibbard’s use of straightforward similes and metaphors showed me all one could accomplish with just a few folk chords. 

I soon realized Death Cab was another garden-variety indie rock band, but I didn’t mind. Songs like “We Looked Like Giants” and “What Sarah Said” gave me a taste of what it might be like to experience a blooming college romance or the slow death of a close friend. Drummer Jason McGerr’s tom-kick-snare pattern on “Cath” opened me up to a whole new world of drum fills. While I was by no means a rabid fan, Death Cab injected my uneventful upbringing with a small dose of nuance and entertainment. 

But as I entered college and life grew more complex, the more my interest in the band waned. Gibbard’s metaphors, once pregnant with meaning, devolved into heavy-handed cliches that could impress only the most naive teenager. And even when the music was melodic and catchy, the broad-brushed lyricism overshadowed the rest of the band’s best creative impulses. It got to a point where I was frustrated with a band full of strangers for making art that no longer sparked my interest. Eventually I realized the absurdity of said frustration and stopped listening to them altogether. 

The summer after my college graduation, I started writing new songs with friend and longtime collaborator Charles Pfaff of the band Closet Space. One day we got to talking about Death Cab, and I went on some diatribe about how I grew to resent their work. 

“I don’t know much about them,” Charles said. “But We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes is an incredible album.” 

Up until that conversation, I never gave their early records any thought. At the height of my “fandom” I could name no more than maybe 10-12 of their songs. Nevertheless, I trusted Charles’ opinion enough to give it a listen. I thought a song or two would grab my attention, but I quickly grew obsessed with all ten songs. There’s a tense energy that permeates the entire album, a heightened level of uncertainty. “Title Track”, the album opener, features Gibbard’s most poetic lyricism to date:

Left uninspired by the crust of railroad earth

It touched the lead to the pages of your manuscript

I took my thumb off the concrete and saved up all my strength

To hammer pillars for a picket fence

Not only are Gibbard’s lyrics more open-ended, but he utilizes the head voice of his vocal range, a style that wanes in later releases and is all but nonexistent by Plans. Bassist Nick Harmer plays some of the best walks and fills of his career, and guitarist/ producer Chris Walla gives the album, which was recorded at some of their parent’s houses, a medium well-fi cohesion that serves as stark contrast to the lo-fi outing on their first album, Something About Airplanes. From the bitter heartbreak of “For What Reason” to the slowcore-inspired guitars on “Little Fury Bugs”, We Have the Facts navigates the confusion and convolution of post-college life in a way that never feels trite. “Company Calls” and “Company Calls Epilogue” feature guitar leads that bear resemblance to emo peers in The Promise Ring while remaining grounded in Indie-Rock. 

For a record that sounds small in comparison to what came after, Death Cab has yet to release something so creatively and intellectually large as We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes. It’s a record that taught me the value of leaving things up to the listener’s imagination; to space out lyrical phrasing in my own songs (especially for verses); to simplify the rhythm section so the vocals and lead guitar can breathe. While I can’t say this album saved my life (I don’t think most art is capable of completing such a task), it certainly saved me from becoming a stagnant musician. If only the same could be said for the band who created it. 

~

"mEMOries" Part 1 feat. Mosey Jones
"mEMOries" Part 2 feat. Daniel Becker (Time as a Color Records, Amid the Old Wounds)
"mEMOries" Part 3 feat. Former States 
"mEMOries" Part 4 feat. Edie Quinn (Middle-Man Records, Coma Regalia)
"mEMOries" Part 5 feat. Human Hands 
"mEMOries" Part 6 feat. Alex Miles (Is this Thing on?)
"mEMOries" Part 7 feat. Boys' Club
"mEMOries" Part 8 feat. Keith Latinen (Mt. Oriander, Parting) 
"mEMOries" Part 9 feat. Villain of the War 
"mEMOries" Part 10 feat. John Szuch (Deep Elm Records)
"mEMOries" Part 11 feat. Flight Mode 
"mEMOries" Part 12 feat. Comic Sans
"mEMOries" Part 13 feat. Joe C (What Price Wonderland?, Plaids, Zochor)
"mEMOries" Part 14 feat. Mentah 
"mEMOries" Part 15 feat. Walking Race
"mEMOries" Part 16 feat. Against Realism
"mEMOries" Part 17 feat. Klaus Axmann (Goddamn Records) 
"mEMOries" Part 18 feat. Atlanta Arrival 
"mEMOries" Part 19 feat. Mary's Letter
"mEMOries" Part 20 feat. Sinking 
"mEMOries" Part 21 feat. Lakes