The Crush were a band from Minneapolis, active in the very early 2000s. Their sound was a cross between melodic hardcore and emo pop, similar to bands like Jawbreaker and Lifetime. The Crush released their work well after the mid-90s heyday of that sound, though apparently they garnered some attention regardless, opening for a Green Day tour. This brush with fame must not have been enough to sustain the band, however, because 2002's This Is Where I Cross My Fingers was their last release.
The band released one other album earlier in 2001, Tonight Will Ruin Tomorrow, as well as two 7" records that I haven't been able to find.
Day of Less were a band from Salt Lake City, active from around 2001 to 2006. The band released their first LP, Ad Hoc, in 2002, and on it their sound is a cross between midwest emo, emo pop, and hardcore. Given the time period, I should clarify that this mixture does not actually make them sound like the early 'mall emo' bands that were using roughly the same formula. Day of Less are pulling from the 90s, and what makes them stand out is just how much midwest emo they employ, to the point I'd say that Ad Hoc is mostly a midwest emo-pop album, similar something like Christiansen or #1 Defender. Prior to the album, the band released a split with The Great Anti-Listen called snapshot in time that features the same sort of sound.
Three years later the band would put out their second album, Porcaria, in which they left behind their emo influences in favor of the hardcore. This was the band's last release.
For my 100th band post on the blog, I intended to focus on something special—naturally, I completely forgot and continued on as usual. So, for the 101st post, I'm going to put up the works of legendary emo pop band Notaword, whose 1999 album You Can Only Grow So Much eluded me for quite some time, long before I started this blog. Now I finally have a physical copy.
In my experience, Notaword tend to be fairly well known among emo aficionado's. Some of their works are included in the 'long live emo' collection and they've made the rounds within the usual circles. So while I've had a digital copy for a long time, I always longed to have a high-quality rip of the LP because it's just so good.
Notaword were formed in 1996 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Their closest contemporary in sound and therefore the band they are endlessly compared to is The Get Up Kids, especially pre-Something To Write Home About The Get Up Kids. They share that midwest-pop-punk sound. But Notaword never experienced the same level of success (few emo bands did), which probably accounts for them calling it quits not long after the turn of the millennium. Last.FM says they broke up in 2001, but they released a compilation track in 2003, though that may have been posthumously.
In 1998, the band released two 7", New Car/How Far and These Things Take Time…. In 1999 they released You Can Only Grow So Much, and then in 2000 put out Four From Fortieth. The download below is almost a discography, but according to Discogs there's a compilation track from 1998 called "C14" that I've been unable to find.
The Awards were a Quebecois band, formed in 2001 and active to at least 2003, if not a little later. Despite coming in after the turn of the millennium, their sound is much more 90s emo pop than the 2000s version that was making inroads towards the radio at that point. Keep in mind, however, that this is only true for their first release. By 2003, their split with Burn Your Wishes showcases a band pivoting towards the new form of emo (if the metal-flavored bands of the latter half of the 90s earned the moniker nu-metal, then why isn't third wave emo called nu-emo?).
The Awards have only two releases: the Pictures Beside Words EP in 2002, and a split with Burn Your Wishes in 2003.
