"mEMOries" Part 28 feat. Soccer.

9 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 28 for your reading pleasure!

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// The band // soccer.

SOCCER. are an Emo-band out of Tokyo, Japan that formed sometime around 2020/21. They've released a Single and a Split-EP so far and -most importantly- are a part of ungulates, a pretty new and really cool label out of Tokyo that brings together the best that city has to offer in terms of Emo. Check out their stuff! Taiyo, the author of "mEMOries" Part 28, is also part of two other bands worth checking out, KUDARANAI1NICHI & AS A SKETCH PAD...

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// The record // Mineral - EndSerenading

Release: 1998 // Label: Crank!

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Taiyo on "EndSerenading" by Mineral

I'm Taiyo, the guitarist and frontman of the Emo-band soccer. in Tokyo, Japan. It is very difficult to decide for my favorite Emo-record, but in terms of the band that got me into Emo, it is Mineral's 2nd album "Endserenading".

After I dropped out of high school at the age of 17, I was working at a small music venue in rural Japan, playing in generic Rock bands and cover bands, just like other high school students my age. However, like them, I found it difficult to continue to genuinely believe in and listen to Japanese mainstream Rock music (or bands influenced by them). Also, the scene to which these bands belonged to was not very appealing to me, and I felt uncomfortable in a scene where the hierarchy that existed at school and in society had simply turned into another pecking order for bands.

One day, when I was 17 years old, a drummer who was older than me introduced me to a genre of music called "Emo".

I had never heard of Emo before, and he introduced me to American Football, Penfold, and Mineral.

When I first heard American Football, I loved the beauty of the guitar sound and listened to them religiously every time I rode my bike (backstory: I used to ride my bike 30 minutes each way to and from home, music venues and my part-time job every week).

When I first heard Mineral's Endserenading, I thought it was plain and difficult to understand, with no prominent riffs or songs, but I liked the hard, cold, basement-like atmosphere and listened to it several times.

One day, however, everything changed. Maybe I was scolded at my part-time job, maybe I was dumped by the girl I liked at the time, or maybe I had a fight with my parents. I don't remember the details, but I was feeling sad and ended up listening to this album late at night on my bed. I felt as if the song was being sung for me: The arpeggios of the two guitars, the unadorned crying vocals, the gradual development of sound growing louder and and more intense, all of it enveloping my sadness. As I listened to the songs, various scenes came to mind, and I was captivated by the passion that lurked within the silence.

The nothingness of the countryside, the boredom of having too much time, the frustration of not being able to be anything, and the loneliness. These were enough reasons to make me fall in love with Emo.

I was mostly a recluse and a loner until I graduated from a correspondence high school, and when I moved to Tokyo after graduation, there were restrictions from going out due to the COVID outbreak, so I had a lot of time on my hands and kept searching for bands on the Internet. I watched live videos of Algernon Cadwallader and Snowing and thought it was the coolest music ever.

It is definitely this music that continues to influence my personality.

Taiyo (soccer., Kudaranai1nichi, as a sketch pad)

Thanks to my friend Elaine for the translation.

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"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
"mEMOries" Part 22 feat. Downhaul
"mEMOries" Part 23 feat. About Leaving
"mEMOries" Part 24 feat. The Arrival Note
"mEMOries" Part 25 feat. Letterpress 
"mEMOries" Part 26 feat. Mr. Princess
"mEMOries" Part 27 feat. Tragwag