"mEMOries" Part 32 feat. Achers

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 32 for your reading pleasure!

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// The band // Achers

ACHERS are a pretty young band out of London, UK. They formed as a three-piece sometime last year and quickly grew to a four-person-collective. Currently they're about to put out their debut release in the form of a 2-track-single. In "mEMOries" chapter 32 we not only get a write-up from Pat, but also one from Pavel. Enjoy those two stories!

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// The record // Texas is the Reason - Do you know who you are?

Release: 1996 // Label: Revelation Records

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Pat on "Do you know who you are?" by Texas is the Reason

I first heard Texas is the Reason when I was 16 years old. My older brother had been gifted a mixtape by an old school friend after finding out they were both on the At the Drive-In forum.

We lived in a house backing onto the park in the suburbs of London, and this kid lived on the opposite side. So they met in the middle and my brother, who was on the atdi street team, brought band merchandise ahead of the release of Relationship of Command to give to his old school alumni. As a thank you, I presume, he made my brother a mixtape.

On this mix were bands that neither my brother or I knew. The scrawl on the back wrote Sensefield, Further Seems Forever, Inside, Juliana Theory, Jimmy Eat World, No Knife, Spy Versus Spy and others I can’t recall. My brother listened to it, I think half enjoyed it but wasn’t overly wowed, and handed it to me to listen to. I remember listening to it on my Walkman on my bunkbed, then on the way to school and everywhere. I’d found something, been gifted something that wasn’t even intended for me and it’s name was emo. The song on the mix that stood out the most was ‘Back and To the Left’. In 10 seconds I knew I loved it. Not long after that I was ordering their album, and hoodie from Revelation Records. I listened to it constantly, especially There's No Way I Can Talk Myself Out Of This One Tonight (The Drinking Song). I tracked down their ep in a record shop absolutely miles from where I lived and nearly lost my shit on hearing ‘If It’s Not Here When We Get Back It’s Ours’ for the first time. I was enamoured. But as I’d learn with almost all the emo bands I discovered I’d missed them by a handful of years.

Luckily for me Norm and Scott had a new band with Jonah Matranga called New End Original and they were coming to London. My brother and I hopped on the train to Camden but I was turned away at the door, too young to get into the pub venue. Disappointed, we both went home (nice of my brother not to leave me stranded). Later my brother wrote an email to New End Original telling them we tried to see them but got turned away because I was too young. Norm Brannon wrote back grateful, apologetic and extremely kind. He offered to put us on the guestlist when they were next in London and he kept his promise. We saw them on their return and after the show I handed both Norm and Scott my album sleeve of ‘Do You Know Who You Are?’ and asked them to sign it. They both obliged, Scott writing ‘COOL. Scott’, and Norm writing ‘Thanks! Norm’. My plan was to get Garrett and Chris to sign it later. Sadly my copy still has just the two signatures. But that mix, that song, that album set me on a path of two decades (+) of emo, punk and hardcore shows, distros, putting on bands, picking up a guitar myself and loving the music. I’ll always be grateful for the hours upon hours of joy that album has brought me, the kindness of Norm Brannon (and my brother), and the mix that wasn’t meant for me.

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// The record // Thursday - War all the Time

Release: 2003 // Label: Island

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Pavel on "War all the Time" by Thursday

It's impossibel to define what Emo music is. But the best way for me is to dig deep into the poetry of Thursday's songs. War all the Time, the poppiest record of Thursday, describes the feeling of growing up and losing your stable world, coming of age in the post 9/11 world where you feel so small, hopeless and helpless.

Being too personal is bad for songwriting: It's hard to relate to very detailed experiences that happened to the singer but completely unfamiliar for you. However, Geoff Rickley in War all the Time manages to put lots of details about his childhood in New Jersey and still be relevant for me, someone who has never been to America and who didn't learn English until adulthood.

If the sun doesn't rise, we'll replace it with an H-bomb: These words were relevant for me as a kid who experienced a fair share of Cold War scare in childhood. These words still speak to me as we hear about possible nuclear weapons use amid the war in Ukraine.

War, metaphorical and a very real one, is still happening more than 20 years after Thursday released one of the best songs of a generation, and it still makes me cry. That's what Emo is about: When somebody else's words make me cry.

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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 
"mEMOries" Part 28 feat. soccer. 
"mEMOries" Part 29 feat. c.h.point (Summer 2000, Elder Jack)
"mEMOries" Part 30 feat. Time Spent Driving
"mEMOries" Part 31 feat. Bicycle Inn