"mEMOries" Part 39 feat. A Rise (and Fall) of a Dilapidated Home

11 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 39 for your reading pleasure!

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// The artist // A Rise (and Fall) of a Dilapidated Home

Thatcher Stevens aka A RISE (AND A FALL) OF A DILAPIDATED HOME hails from Ohio and was one of the most active artists of the Bedroom Emo/Skramz-community in the last few years, releasing various singles, EPs and collections. Especially the debut album from 2023 showed all of Stevens' talent. He took a break from releasing stuff in 2025, but hopefully that was just a preparation for what is to come in 2026. For "mEMOries" he picked CIRCA SURVIVE's first full length as his most important Emo-record of all time...

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// The record // Circa Survie - Juturna

Release: 2005 // Label: Equal Vision Records

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Thatcher on "Juturna " by Circa Survive

Getting the first album perfect as a musician is a very.. tough process. You have to write it almost as if it’s an essay. The first words you speak in this new experience need to hook the listener in, the instrumentals have to be just perfect to encapsulate the current emotional struggle of the musicians at hand and convey it to the unbeknownst consumer of said art, but when you get it right, you truly get it right and Circa Survive’s “Juturna” hits this directly on the head, giving it some serious permanent brain damage.

As a little background, my Father and cousin are both Mars Volta/Minus the Bear/At the Drive-In fanatics, me being raised on a steady diet of Post Hardcore and Indie Rock. So, when I brought up Saosin’s “Translating the Name” EP to my cousin over text late one night, I was ecstatic to receive a reply where he had suggested another Anthony Green project. Puzzled, I replied back saying I had never heard of Circa and a little while later, he had bought the 12” of Juturna for me to own. A week or so later, it arrived in my mail box, was placed upon my turntable, and was my first introduction to the difference between Saosin and Circa.

Saosin, albeit with some of my favorite Anthony Green vocals, for those who haven’t listened, is a little bit more “chuggy”, and can sometimes just be a tad much, but Circa on the other hand was this beautiful warmth of everything that I loved about Mars Volta and Saosin, axe the chugs. They have this ambience to their songs that you can’t find anywhere else, even with the influence from MV being so prevalent. Green’s buttery smooth, yet high strung voice wailing about while the bands guitarists, Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Ekstrom play some pretty awesome post hardcore riffs layered with a multitude of delays and effects, not to mention Nick Beard always holding down his subtle-yet-perfect bass parts and Steve Clifford’s insanely tight drumming, it’s a real treat.

Half of Green’s beauty, other than his angelic timbre, are his lyrics. Most being very cryptic, still have this emotional capacity for a listener to relate to. Lyrics like the refrain in the song We’re All Thieves where Green references previous possible self reflective moments with his weary signature trailing off croon

“Your face is light and cocaine white; One message beating through”

Or on the song Always Getting What You Want where Green equates the sound and feeling of a Mandolin’s strings winding up as “the sound you make when we disagree”.

The album is as beautiful as ever, being almost 20 years old, this is a record that truly has the right circumstances, bandmates, and emotional palpability behind it for a listener to absolutely adore. You’ll probably find yourself drumming to most of the songs, doing air guitar or singing along (whichever you prefer!) with riveting tracks like Holding Someone’s Hair Back, Act Appalled, Stop the Fucking Car, Meet Me in Montauk and, of course, the hidden track House of Leaves that loops the album back to it’s opener with a simple arpeggiated note.

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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
"mEMOries" Part 32 feat. Achers
"mEMOries" Part 33 feat. Jonathan Lee Gonzales (Sunday Drive Records)
"mEMOries" Part 34 feat. Fortyten (Drifting with the Ice)
"mEMOries" Part 35 feat. David of RealoEmo
"mEMOries" Part 36 feat. Chelsea of Sadder Star
"mEMOries" Part 37 feat. Anthony of A Fan's POV
"mEMOries" Part 38 feat. Counsels