3 Of The Week: (8/12/14)

I’ve been in a state of mourning lately. Nothing melodramatic or negative has been happening in my life, so that’s nothing to worry about. I’ve just been missing bands that are no longer around these days. It always tends to be the best bands that casually fall below the radar and ultimately call it a day. This edition of 3 Of The Week will focus on three bands that I miss weekly, if not daily.

1. “Permanent Tourists” – The Graduate

The Graduate is the rare (read: terrible) case in which I fell in love with a band’s music after it was too late and it had already disbanded. Granted, I had known of their first record Anhedonia for a couple years, but I never took the chance to move forward with the band’s music until I kept hearing that their second and final record Only Every Time was “one of the best indie pop rock records ever made”…and it was. “Permanent Tourists” was the beginning within the end for my time with The Graduate. It was the first song I truly loved from the band and remains to be one of my favorites of all time.

2. “Southern Comfort” – Envy On The Coast

Before I get into my history with Envy On The Coast, it ought to be known that this song has the sickest intro of all time: 45 seconds of audio from a scene from one of the most legendary episodes of The Twilight Zone ever made (the one with the deformed faces and the idea of beauty; you know the one). That in itself made EOTC one of the coolest bands out there. I have the band to thank for thrusting me into the club show scene (my first concert was Simon & Garfunkel), and with a killer lineup to boot. Envy On The Coast was one of those bands that I just repetitiously listened to throughout my time in high school without even realizing that they were considerably a “favorite” of mine until recently; they were that ingrained in my listening repertoire. While the band will most likely never see the light of day again, there is simply no denying the mark they left.

3. “Sleep, Everyone…” – Powerspace

I can’t even begin to express where to begin with Powerspace. They were easily my number one favorite band throughout my time in high school until I branched out from the neon pop scene. It should be known that my time in that scene (and with this band) is not regretted. Not one bit. Powerspace’s sole album had singlehandedly morphed me into a music lover. Easily one of Fueled By Ramen’s diamonds in the rough, the band combined elements of rock, powerpop, and electronica never heard before (back in 2007, anyway) and executed it perfectly. With an untimely and sudden end, Powerspace transformed into Bad City (all members minus frontman Alec Cyganowski, plus ex-Thee Armada frontman Josh Caddy), which also managed to disappear following Caddy’s incarceration. I owe a great deal to Powerspace for many things – too many to list. But, I’ll leave you with easily the best song they wrote.

What bands do you miss? Did you happen to listen to any of these bands? Let us know in the comments!