Outsmarting Simon

Outsmarting Simon were a late-period second wave emo band from New Jersey, active in the early 2000s. They're a little better known than a lot of their peers from this time period, probably due to being signed to Triple Crown Records. Like most midwest emo bands who missed the crest of the wave, Outsmarting Simon formed right when the movement was running out of steam and didn't get an album out until a few years later. If not for the Triple Crown distribution, I imagine they'd be as unknown as Fly, Mordecai, Kid Brother Collective, D.S. Sutton, or The Autumn Year.

The band's first album, 2003's silent sober and sound, is their most well-known and also their best. It's pure 90s indie emo all the way through, packed with some of the best twinkly riffs the genre has to offer (so good, in fact, that nothing,nowhere. would sample the album twice on the who are you? EP). Just listen to that opening for "with five words." Their second album, Stand Up Straight, released in 2005, ditches a lot—but not all—of the midwest emo in favor of more straightforward indie rock\emo pop, but it's still worth a listen. Prior to both, the band put out a self-titled EP that contains a mix of unique tracks and some demo versions of tracks from silent. There are at least a couple songs on there, like "Polar," that are good enough that I think they should have made the cut for the album.

I'm also including scans for an advance promotional copy of Stand Up Straight that I have, which has a slightly different title for track four that I assume is a typo.

Outsmarting Simon Discography