The Player Piano

This blog has been less active lately, and while there are a few factors that contribute to that, the primary one is this: my ever-rising standards. If you go back and look at my earliest blog posts, you can see that I posted whatever I had on hand, whether that was a single EP or several albums. I might include more of the band's discography if I had it, but otherwise I was content to introduce readers to a band and leave it at that. Over time, as I assembled more and more full discographies, that became the new standard, resulting in an endless limbo of searching for former band members, scouring internet archives, and waiting for months in the (frequently vain) hope of an answer to many, many messages and emails. Thus, updates are few and far between.

So here's a new update on a very accessible band who are not particularly obscure (by the standards of this blog, anyway) and whose entire output is confined to a single CD. I imagine quite a few of the people who frequent this blog are already familiar with the band, but perhaps you will still enjoy some full art scans and FLAC files.

The Player Piano are the rare emo band with their own Wikipedia page, sparing me the effort of writing a brief biography. Active only briefly in the mid-2000s, they were a part of the largely unrecognized wave of bands combining post-rock with the midwest emo sounds of the 90s. The Player Piano also brought some influences from math rock to the table, though these are pretty subdued. The result is one of my favorite albums, something I especially like to vibe with on road trips. It's just one of those works that sonically resonates with the feeling of crossing the midwest.

The band's only LP was a self-titled in 2004, and it saw a very limited release. The band's legacy mostly comes from their posthumous compilation Satellite, put out in 2007 in Japan by Friend of Mine Records and subsequently imported by Sunset Alliance, who released the original LP. Including two additional tracks, it has apparently proven popular enough to warrant represses; my copy was made as recently as 2019. It includes an insert with a lengthy interview that I can't read, but along with the liner notes you can see what appear to be some of the band's influences, including Explosions in the Sky, Christie Front Drive, This Will Destroy You, Mineral, American Football, and Always the Runner. It's a fantastic list that illustrates what the band was aiming for, and they nailed it.

Satellite

The Minor Fall

 The Minor Fall were a band from Leeds, active from 2004 to 2007. There are no working archives of their website, but fortunately their bio is preserved on the Leeds Music Scene website:

The Minor Fall formed in June of 2004 after many drinks with friends and lingering maudlin conversations about how great everything was in 1999. All four members of the band had been plying their trade in various other bands for a while, namely D-rail, And None of Them Knew They Were Robots, Laura Audio and Send More Paramedics, and the germ of an idea was born that the boys in the band wanted to do something more melodic, more influenced by the likes of Minus the Bear, Get Up Kids, Saves the Day and classic Deep Elm/Jade Tree, whilst singer Jenn wanted to try her hand at doing lead vocals for a change.

I've said before that it feels like I mention The Get Up Kids every other post, but their first two albums really were just that influential on the emo scene. The Minor Fall take more from Four Minute Mile than Something To Write Home About, leaning into the midwest emo influences just as that first album did. They also bring quite a bit of post-hardcore to the table as well, with some well-placed riffs and the occasional burst of hardcore vocals.

The band's first release was a demo in 2004, which is fortunately preserved on Soundcloud. In 2005 they followed it up with their only album release, which is self-titled. There is a compilation track called "Ivory Sirens" which is attributed to them, but I tracked down a copy (big thanks to RASSO for providing the compilation) and it appears to be from a different band entirely, which was coincidentally active at the same time in the UK. Either that or they briefly tried a different vocalist and a total change in sound, which seems unlikely.

The Minor Fall

Autumn Leaf Dance

 Autumn Leaf Dance were a band from Upstate New York. Like most college bands, they were short-lived, active from 1993 to 1994. They never toured, and according to their bio wrote only twelve songs, eight of which were recorded for their only release, Learn What Is Taught. The dates on the album confirm it was recorded in 1994, but the metadata from the files of the band's archive website say the record was released in 1995, so I'm choosing to accept that as fact. A couple notable projects came out from ex-members of the band, The Douglas Fir and Sky Flying By.

Musically, Autumn Leaf Dance were closer to first wave emo than the second wave that was cresting at that time; think a slightly more melodic version of Still Life or Portraits of Past's less emocore-based tracks, or maybe a less melodic version of Junction. The songs are moody and distorted but rarely aggressive or catchy, though there are some sporadic exceptions. Some of that comes down to the female vocalist, who never deploys any hardcore vocals, but don't mistake this band for something like early Rainer Maria—they just don't have that kind of pop instinct in their makeup. This is slow emo, but emo nonetheless.

Learn What Is Taught

Berkeley

Berkeley were a band from Donegal, Ireland,  active from 1999 until what appears to be 2008. The exact timeline is a mystery, especially their beginning. The band's own biography, preserved in archives of their website, says they were formed in 2001. But I have scans of the band's first release and it clearly says '2000' on the back cover, and the news posts on the website go back to 1999. It's possible the band was trying to downplay their early work by claiming a later formation date, since, as I'll discuss below, their first EP is not representative of what would become their sound. The website would remain up until 2011, but the last news post was made in November of 2007, so I'm betting they called it quits sometime in 2008. I can't be 100% sure of any of this, however, so don't take it as gospel.

The band's initial release, the ironically titled the best of, is a self-recorded EP that is basically a demo, showcasing a band just beginning to find their sound. It has little resemblance to the rest of their discography, being more alternative\indie rock than anything else, and is, frankly, not very good. But that's okay, because it was their first attempt and their next, 2002's New Star, is excellent, recorded in Chicago with Steve Albini. The band found their footing with a blend of post-hardcore and emo pop, and would carry that sound forward to their next releases. 

Their first full-length, also recorded under Albini's stewardship, was 2002's hopes, prayers and bubblegum. The next release was in 2003, a single called Follow Through, featuring the same recording of the title track as the album in slightly shortened form, as well as two additional unique tracks; I assume it was put out to promote the previous year's LP, and the new songs sound like they may have been extra tracks cut from hopes, prayers and bubblegum.

After that, there is long gap in their discography between 2003 and 2006. Based on info from the website, it seems like they had some earlier version of it that I currently haven't been able to find; it was relaunched in 2005, with news of the upcoming second LP. If they released anything during that time, I can't find evidence of it. The second album was intended to be released early in 2006 but was delayed for unspecified reasons. Instead, the band would contribute to a split single with Giveamanakick. When eventually released, the second LP, in moments, is largely consistent with their previous releases despite the time passed, and features slightly more influence from post-punk.

Portions of Berkeley's discography are made available courtesy of How Nothing Feels.

berkeley discography

Into Ashes

Into Ashes were a band from Tallahassee, active from 2001 to 2002 and probably a bit before that, as their website redesign in 2001 seems to hint at some other, unarchived version of it existing prior to that year. They released one EP on Copter Crash Records, a label which was no stranger to emo, hosting releases from The Goodboy Suit and The Saddest Landscape. While their only release came after the turn of the millennium, their sound is a very late-90s mix of midwest emo and emo pop, with the addition of some strong influences from post-hardcore. They remind me a lot of Camber, which is to say they were also great (in a secondary layer to that comparison, they toured with Brandston). I can't find any evidence they had another release besides the if you need a reason EP in 2001.

The fifth track is titled 'hum' on the back tray insert but called 'Balcony' in the liner notes. I believe the back insert is correct as the song is named 'hum' on their website.

if you need a reason

Small Town Hero

Small Town Hero were a band from Connecticut, formed either in 1998 or sometime before that. Their website was first archived in 1999 but there is a video of them playing a show in 1998. By 2002 they had lost their lead singer and called it quits after that, though I can't say exactly when. Musically, they were a combination of pop punk, emocore, and melodic hardcore, with most of the emphasis being on the first two.

Their first official release was the and so it goes… EP in 1999, though considering their existence prior to that year it's possible there was a demo before the EP. The track listing on the artwork is comprised of four songs but there are actually six on the CD—I sourced the names for the last two songs by matching the lyrics from an archive of the band's 'songs' page. In 2000, the band released a split with A Voice of Reason on Triple Crown Records, Things to Do in Connecticut When You're Dead. This was their last release, but they did post two additional songs to their website that were intended to be on a forthcoming full LP release. Sadly, that album never came to be and the songs are not recoverable.

Small Town Hero